Carrie Thorndyke
by BriMarie
Summary: Chris has a older sister that has been kidnapped five years ago. One day, our blue hero finds her alive but injured. Now, the Sonic Team has to find the chaos emeralds before darkness takes over them forever. Sonic/HumanOC.
1. Chapter 1

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter One: Nightmarish Memory

"C'mon Chris! We're going to be late for dinner!" a 10 year old girl complained as she tapped her foot impatiently on the forest ground. Her red-orange hair shimmered against the soft rays from the sunset. Her tan complexion brought out her emerald eyes that happen to match her dirty sundress. You could barely see her freckles for there was dirt smeared across her face. "C'mon! You're going to get me in trouble again!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" called 8 year old boy. He looked a lot like the girl except for his eyes and skin tone. His eyes were blue while his skin was paler than the girl's. He wore khaki pants with a red button up shirt… which were also dirty. "Carrie! It's not my fault that you are a fast runner!"

"Well, I would've slowed down for you but you pushed me in the mud!"

"You like mud!"

"Not when I'm wearing this dress!"

"You hate dresses!"

"Mom made me wear it! And now I'm going to get in trouble because it's dirty! And you made us late so I'm in extra trouble! And it's all your fault!"

As they continued to bicker, they walked up to their mansion home. They were greeted by a younger Ella who was not happy with what she saw.

"You two!" Ella roared in annoyance. "You're all dirty and it's time for dinner!"

"Sorry, Ella," the two kids chorused apologetically.

Ella sighed took the children to the nearest bathroom. "Wash your faces and I'll be back with new clothes. Your parents have guests tonight so you must be on your best behavior!"

Carrie and Chris's faces were clean when Ella came back with a new pink sundress and new khakis and lavender shirt. They took turns changing in the bathroom. When they were done, Ella looked them over for approval.

"Aw, you two look just… darling!"

"I hate pink." Carrie said darkly as her arms were crossed.

"And purple is a girl's color!" Chris whined.

"Well, are they clean?" Ella asked sternly as she too crossed her arms.

"Yes," the two chorused as they looked down.

"That's the only thing that matters. The rest of your clothes are filthy!" Ella ushered the children toward the dining room. "And I can't clean them because you keep hiding them!"

"We don't like dress-up clothes!" Chris whined again.

"Yeah!" Carrie agreed childishly.

"Cry me a river, you two. Now, go to dinner!"

Nelson and Linsey Thorndyke and the two children sat with Mr. and Mrs. Honeybush and their 12 year old son, Justin, at the dinner table. Carrie hated Justin with a passion. Everything about him screamed 'conceited'. His neat, blonde hair; his cocky gray eyes that matched his suit. He looked exactly like his parents which infuriated Carrie even more. Chris felt the same way, but it was more of being protective of his big sister. Justin liked Carrie… a lot. With this knowledge, the Honeybush's decided on a proposal.

"Mr. Thorndyke," Mr. Honeybush's thick British accent disturbed the peaceful dinner. "Dinner, this evening, is quite delightful. But I'm afraid we are also here on family business more than for pleasure."

"Oh?" Nelson put down his knife and fork to be polite as he conversed. "Tell me, Mr. Honeybush, what brings you to our home?"

"We have a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

"Well, you see, Mr. Thorndyke, our family tree has diminished over the years. And we have decided to combine our family with yours."

"I give my deepest sympathy about your family," Linsey expressed. "But please explain further on how you are intending to combine families."

"We want an arranged marriage." Mr. Honeybush stated with a pompous attitude.

"Arrange marriage?" Nelson sat up more with confusion. "Arrange marriage for whom?"

"Our son… and your daughter."

"What?!" All the Thorndyke's exclaimed except for Chris, who clearly did not understand the situation.

"What's an arranged marriage, Dad?" Chris asked innocently.

"Something we are disagreeing to!" Nelson glared across the table at the stubborn family.

"I beg your pardon?" Mrs. Honeybush glared back.

"We decline your offer," Linsey stated sternly. "My deepest apologies but we can't possibly force our daughter to marry your son. We want Carrie to marry for love, not profit."

"And what is wrong with our son? Do you think she could never love him? Are you saying my son cannot be loved?" Mr. Honeybush stood up abruptly.

"Daddy," Justin whimpered in a fake manner. "They don't think I'm good enough for Carrie!"

"Now," Nelson held up his hand. "That's not what we meant."

"Ha!" Carrie glared at Justin. "I rather eat a bowl of WORMS than have anything to do with THAT twerp!"

"And it takes a lot for her to eat worms!" Chris piped.

"That could be arranged, brat!" Mr. Honeybush growled.

"ARE YOU THREATENING MY DAUGHTER?" Nelson roared.

"Mr. Thorndyke, contain yourself. You are acting rather… caveman-like." Mrs. Honeybush ordered.

"My husband is not acting like a caveman!" Linsey glared and she crossed her arms. "He's doing his job as a father and husband… protecting his child!"

"Again, Mr. and Mrs. Honeybush, we are declining your offer of an arranged marriage. Now, if you please… leave!"

* * *

Later that night, Linsey was tucking Carrie into bed. "Mom… I'm not going to marry that Justin, am I?"

"No, darling, never." Linsey smiled at Carrie's relieved face.

"Does this mean I have to eat worms?"

"Don't be silly, darling. That wretched family is not worth the torture… or the taste. Uck!"

"Yay! No worms AND no Justin! I really hate Justin, Mom."

"Hate is a strong word. But I see why you feel that way." With another smile, Linsey kissed her daughter's forehead. "Now, go to sleep."

"Night, Mom!"

"Night, darling."

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke were awoken by a piercing scream… their daughter's scream. "Carrie!" they called as they dashed out of bed. But when they entered their hallway, all they could see was smoke. Not just smoke, tear-gas. The couple instantly started coughing as their eyes became painfully teary.

"Nelson!" Linsey coughed out. "We must get to Carrie and Chris!"

* * *

"Let me go!" Carrie screamed as a man in black threw her over his shoulder. She kicked and punched, but it was useless. "I'm warning you!" The man ignored her. "Fine, have it your WAY!" With that, Carrie turned her body and jabbed her knee into the man's throat (she couldn't get his face for his was wearing a gas mask). The man choked on the pulsing pain as he tumbled backwards. Unfortunately for Carrie, he fell back into the wall… and in the process, she banged her head hard. They both fell to the floor as Carrie wailed in pain. Tears ran down her face from both the pain and the green gas. She coughed insanely as she tried to stand up. Blood trickled down her face from her forehead as she stumbled down the hall.

"Carrie!" Chris's voice called from his cracked door, which was three-feet away from her. "Get in!"

Carrie wasted no time; she dashed into the gas-free room and coughed out the wretched taste of the green smoke. "Carrie, what's going on? Are you ok?"

"Shh!" Carrie put her hand over his face.

"Children!" an elderly woman's voice called as she walked through the door.

"Gramma!" they ran up to their grandmother, who held a cloth over her face. "Your parents and Ella are looking for you! We must get you two out of here!"

"Dream on, lady!" a boy's voice declared behind the trio while holding up a handgun. He was dressed in all black including a mask… but was only wearing goggles instead of the gas mask (the rest of his face was covered with a cloth). When the grandmother turned around, she was instantly shot in the head.

Carrie and Chris screamed as their grandmother's blood splattered across their faces. "Gramma!" Chris called as he fell to his dead grandparent's side. He looked up at the assassinator and glared. "You killed Gramma!"

"Now, I'll kill you!" he growled as he aimed the gun at Chris. Right when pulled the trigger, their guard dog jump on the boy causing his aim to move. Instead of the bullet hitting Chris's chest, it hit the edge of his shoulder. The evil boy screamed bloody-murder as the dog bit down on his face, tearing it apart. "Dad!!!" the mysterious gunner-boy called.

"Chris!" Carrie cried as she pressed down on his wound to prevent more bleeding. Chris wailed in pain as hot tears streamed down his face. She looked up when she heard another gunshot. She looked to see their dog's head shattered into brainy pieces. "Butch!"

"Bitch!" it was the same guy from before… the one she kneed in the neck. With the handle of his gun, he decked Carrie in the face and shot her in the leg.

"Ahhh!" Carrie wailed. Chris cried even more as he watched his sister get hit again in the face, and then heaved over the man's shoulder. Another man in black walked in and checked on the boy.

"We better get the fuck out of here!" The other man exclaimed. With that, he picked up the boy and they left Chris alone in pain.

"Carrie! CARRIE!"

* * *

"CARRIE!" 13 year old Chris sat up in his bed sweating and panting. He looked around and realized he was in his room, in his bed with his blanket and bed sheets tangled. He sighed as he rolled up his sleeve to look at his scar that he got when he younger. 


	2. Chapter 2

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter Two: Regrettably Reminiscing

"Chris!" Sonic called as he busted through the door. "Chris! What's wrong?"

"It's ok, Sonic." Chris smiled wearily. "It was just a nightmare."

"Whoa, Chris! Is that a scar on your shoulder?"

"Huh?" Chris looked at his shoulder and quickly rolled down his sleeve. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Sonic jumped on Chris's bed and tried to inspect the old wound. But Chris pulled his arm away.

"It's nothing, Sonic." Chris smiled reassuringly. "It's just something I got when I was a kid."

"Oh… ok." Sonic sat down while raising his eyebrow. "So, who's Carrie?"

"What?" Chris's eyes got wide.

"Who's Carrie? You were screaming 'Carrie' not too long ago."

"She's, uh…."

"A girlfriend?" Sonic grinned slyly but it was immediately gone when he saw Chris's recoiled face.

"God no!" Chris shook his head. Damn, having his sister gone was a horrible thing, but her being mistaken as his girlfriend is just disgusting. He looked down sadly as he wondered which would be worse. "Gone, that what's worse…." He mumbled his thoughts aloud.

"What? Gone?" Sonic cocked his head to the side. He was starting to worry for his friend. "Chris, tell me what the Hell is wrong. You're acting weird."

"Sonic… can I tell you something?" Chris was still looking down depressed.

"You can tell me anything, buddy. What's up?"

"Well, it's something that happened a long time ago. When I was 8."

"Ok…. Go on." Sonic sat Indian-style and waited for him to start. "I'm listening."

"Well… to start things off. I'm not an only child. Well… I am now… or I think." Chris kept his face down as he gripped the blankets. "I'm not sure anymore, actually."

"Well, do you have a brother or sister?" Sonic asked carefully.

"Yes… I did."

"You _did_? Are you adopted?"

"No," Chris got up from his bed walked out onto his balcony. Sonic quickly followed him and sat on the balcony's railing. "It's cold out tonight."

"Chris, you ok?"

"You see that balcony over there?" Chris pointed down to his upper left at another balcony.

"Yeah, I sit up there most of the time. It's the highest balcony here. What about it?" Sonic cocked his head in curiosity.

"That was my sister's." Chris looked back down but this time, he was staring at his scarred palm.

_FLASHBACK_

_Carrie and Chris were sitting in the kitchen with no supervisors. Carrie was digging through the drawers as Chris was sitting at the table eating cookies._

_"Carrie what are you doing?" a young Chris asked as he watched Carrie pull out a knife._

_"Let's be blood brothers!" Carrie __said cheerfully._

_"But… we're already brother and sister. How can you be a brother?"_

_"You're so dense, Chris." Carrie shook her head._

_"Am not!"_

_"Shut up and listen. I saw this movie and these two sisters shared their blood… in another movie, it was called being 'blood brothers'. __Even if one of them is a girl!"_

_"Oh. Why do you want become blood brothers?"_

_"So we can never be separated… even if we're in different towns!"_

_"Sounds weird.__ Let's do it!" Chris walked over to Carrie happily. "Even if you are my annoying sister, it doesn't mean I want to be separated from you."_

_"Ok! Put out your hand!" Carrie ordered as she polished her knife. Chris did __so;__ she first cut her own hand. __"My blood."__ She cut Chris's hand._

_"__Ow__!"_

_"Your blood."__ She held her hand up and they__ both__ high-fived__ their__ hurting hands. __"Our blood!__ Now, we're blood brothers!"_

_"Cool!"_

_END FLASHBACK_

"You have a sister?" Sonic exclaimed. "How come you never mentioned her before? Where is she?"

"She… was kidnapped a long time ago. It would be five years in…" Chris checked his watch which he never took off. "Five minutes. And it will also be the anniversary of my Gramma and Butch."

"Anniversary of what?" Sonic asked. He saw Chris point toward the garden; he followed the direction and saw Chuck.

Chuck was walking up to the small memorial of his late wife and trusty dog. The memorial was a statue of an angel with a small pony standing by her side. The moonlight shimmered upon the angelic features of the statue, giving it an eerie glow. Instead of his usual cheery face, Chuck displayed sorrow in his dark eyes. He kneeled in front of the statue and place down a single red rose. A single, glistening tear ran down his cheek as he softly spoke to the empty air.

"I will always love you, my wife, my soulmate." He whispered. After a moment, he pulled out a small dog treat with a delicate white ribbon encircling it. He placed that down in front of the pony, "You have always been a good dog, Butch. Thank you for saving my grandson." He stayed for a few minutes to show his respect. After that, he stood up and walked quietly back into the house.

"I'm so sorry, Chris… I never knew." Sonic whispered as he heard Chuck close the door.

"Exactly…. I didn't want anyone to know." Chris kept his eyes on the statue as the stars sparkled above it. "It hurts too much to even think about it."

"What made you open up?" Sonic, too, was gazing at the statue.

"The nightmare… that night keeps reoccurring in my head. But it's something else…. Something or someone is trying to tell me something."

"Chris, what happened that night?" Sonic asked as he turned to his young friend.

Chris told him the entire story; from becoming blood brothers, to the Honeybushs, to the injured Carrie being carried away along with that wretched boy. "After they took her, Mom and Dad found me and took me to the hospital. The police tried locating Carrie but it was no use. Mom and Dad kept searching for a year but they eventually gave up because it hurt too much. Besides, the police considered her dead after two days. For the longest time, my mind blocked out most of the events like my Gramma and Butch dying. But these damn nightmares…. I don't know if I can handle this." Chris lifted his hand to look at his scar. "I hope, wherever she is... Dead, alive. I hope she's at peace."

* * *

Deep within the woods, there was a rundown warehouse. Through the dirty windows you see a 14 year old girl nailed to a chair by her hands and bare feet. Her head hung low as her dirty orange hair covered her exhausted, bruised face. She was half awake; the throbbing pain on her limbs wouldn't let her entirely sleep.

"Oooh, Carrie?" a male's voice sang. She lifted her head enough to see two combat boots walking toward her. "You know what time it is. Boys," he called to small group of young men. He held up school girl uniform and smirked evilly. "Change her into this…. And whatever you want to do to her, make it quick. It's my night."


	3. Chapter 3

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter Three: The Escape

Carrie grunted as she was thrown onto her 'bedroom' floor (which was a small 10x10 room that only contained floorboards and wallboards, no windows). She lay still as her rapists cackled wildly while locking her door. After a few moments of swallowing in self pity and immense pain (AN: can you BLAME HER?), she finally stood up. Her sore thighs trembled as she walked over to her moldy mattress. She collapsed onto it and examined her wounds.

She had bruises all over; her legs, arms, stomach, her privates. It hurt to move an inch. Dry blood crusted all over her hands and feet. She no longer had a skirt, the only thing she was wearing was her torn up bra and long white button up shirt, which was also torn. Luckily, her shirt went down to the middle of her black and blue thighs… it was more coverage than what she usually received. She sighed as she pulled out an extra pair boy short underwear and tube socks from under her mattress. She quietly slipped them on while grimacing to her painful movement.

_Tonight, _she thought to herself. _Tonight is the night that I'm leaving. I haven't attempted to escape after all these years so they won't expect me to try it. But their dead wrong…. I rather die trying than __live__ here._

She waited till midnight so she could put her plan into action. Oh yes, she had a plan. She had been preparing for the past two months for it. When she heard the clock strike midnight, she listened for any signs of her captors' presence. When convinced she was all alone, she tiptoed to the corner of the room. She lifted a floor board and pulled out a small back pack. She checked to see if she had all her supplies that she collected.

Pocket knife, check.

Lighter, check.

Three old Snickers bars, triple check.

Broken mirror piece, check.

Four small rocks, quadruple check.

After double checking her supplies, she closed her small backpack and secured it on her left shoulder (you can run faster and quieter when it's not flopping on her your back). She tip toed to the door to double check if anyone is around. When satisfied, she quietly walked back to the other end of the room. Last week, she found out that her room was facing the outdoors, meaning it wasn't in the middle of the warehouse so she wouldn't have sneak around inside.

She tentatively moved her mattress away from the corner of the room. After that, she walked up to the corner and gently opened a lose piece of board. The board would revolve slightly, but not come off completely. For the past week, she was slowly inching the blasted board open. Since last night, she finally got it to open enough for her to squeeze out of. After cracking it open, she pulled her broken mirror out of her backpack and edged it outside to check for any 'guards'.

When the coast was clear, she placed her mirror back and squeezed through the hole. She grimaced when the rough wood scraped her battered legs but stayed quiet. After squeezing through, she quietly dashed into the forest and quickly climbed up one of the trees.

She realized that if she walked the grounds, she could possibly run into a bear trap (that she heard the boys brag about before). So, her safe bet was travel from tree to tree, from branch to branch. If memory serves her right, there was a river straight ahead (about a mile or so). It would be a tedious journey while traveling through the trees, but she would be patient. Being quiet and discreet is her ticket out of here; haste would only get her caught.

* * *

An hour had passed and Carrie was becoming painfully exhausted. She was fortunate that these trees were so close to each other. She reached her bruised leg out to another branch and pulled herself to the next tree. She was about to crawl to the next tree but stopped immediately when she heard voices.

"So," a gruff male voice started. "How long do you think Justin will keep that bitch-girl alive? I mean, hasn't he kept her for five years?"

"Yeah," a scrawnier voice whined. "But he is obsessed with her…. At least he shares. But, if I were him, I would get rid of her before she retaliates."

_So,_ Carrie thought to herself. _They haven't noticed that I left yet. Perfect!_ But her hopes shattered when she heard their radios go off.

_"Boys!__ The girl escaped!"_ she heard through their radios.

"Fuck! We better get back! She couldn't have gotten far!" The bigger man exclaimed as they dashed back to the warehouse.

_I've__ got farther than you think, a__sshole__s_She grinned when they ran the opposite direction of where she was going. When she was positive they were gone, she double checked around to be sure she was alone. After triple checking, she continued her journey through the trees.

* * *

Her ears perked as she heard water running. After going through one last tree, she faced a rapid river. The current swished wildly as they clashed to one another. She decided to go north of the river, she felt as if she had a better chance heading that way.

"Check the river!" echoed a voice.

She quickly shrunk back into the leafier part of the tree in order to conceal herself. She peeked through to the open spots and saw three men standing on the shore of the river. She carefully pulled out her backpack and pulled out a rock. After safely setting her backpack on a secured branch, she inched her way forward to obtain a clear shot. She stood up straight and waited till the men were looking away. When satisfied, she chucked the rock down the South side of the river. Fortunately, the rock went farther than she expected. She ducked back quietly and watched the men react to the splash.

"SHE MUST BE OVER THERE!" one of them declared as they dashed in the direction of the noise.

When they were gone, she grabbed her bag and carefully continued traveling from tree to tree down the river. When she reached the end, which was a waterfall, she almost panicked at what she saw.

Fields…. Open fields. Hopefully the grass was long enough to conceal her. But first, she would have to get out of the tree and climb down the waterfall. With a deep breath, she checked her surroundings, yet again, and proceeded toward her escape. She inched her way down the tree and paused at the base. She looked around again and made her way toward the waterfall. The rocks were slippery and wet; her feet started become freezing cold through her matted socks. When she was 6 feet from the bottom, she slipped. She gasped as her foot slid off the rock and grimaced when she hit her forehead on the same rock when passing it. After the sickening crack, she landed flat on her back with a soft groan. She couldn't move… her body ached all over and was in shock from the impact. Her vision was doubled as she felt crimson tears trickle out of her new wound.

She laid there for a moment, but quickly forced herself up when she heard their voices again. In attempts of ignoring the throbbing pain and skewed vision, she gripped her bag and quickly dashed into the long grass. When she was sure she was out of view, she ducked down and remained still. It was hard not shake out of fear and pain, so she crouched into the fetal position. She held her breath in attempt to stop her scraped knees from shaking. But when she heard their voices again, her entire body froze with tension.

"Where is that mother-fuckin' girl!" the same gruff man from before growled.

"Dude, Justin is going to kill us. I don't see her anywhere." The scrawny man whined.

"Well, if she was out here, we would've seen her by now. Let's go check the East side of the area." With that, they walked off.

Carrie's body trembled again. Between her stress, fears and physical pains, her body started to react. She crawled out of her fetal position and lay on her back to gaze at the sky. Her body was screaming for rest, but she couldn't stop running just yet. She needed to get further away. She noted that dawn was coming because the stars were disappearing. She could feel the mud seeping through her thin attire. Her hair clumped with dirt and cold sweat. She sat up with a grimace and turnover on her knees. She glanced around to see she was alone, and alas, she was. She peeked her head barely above the grass to get a view of what she was about to face.

She saw small mountains, mostly bare and empty. If she crept through the middle of them, she can remain low and hidden. She wasn't sure of what was beyond those mounds of land, but it was better than the warehouse… with those rapist-dogs.

With a deep breath, she started crawl through the grass toward the mountains.


	4. Chapter 4

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter Four: Meeting the Blue Hero

After staying up with Chris till 3 in the morning, Sonic decided not to go to sleep (by now, it was the afternoon). Luckily, Chris fell asleep without any nightmares, for that he was grateful. But he also felt bad for his friend; he never knew that Chris had such a horrid past. Sonic kept on repeating certain words in his head of what Chris had said.

"Ever since we became blood brothers, our connection altered. Not in a bad or good way, but altered. I feel as if Carrie is still living in a nightmare and that's why I'm seeing the same thing over and over again." Chris's voice echoed through his head.

"I need to clear my head," Sonic mumbled. And then he decided to go to his secret thinking spot.

* * *

"Wow…." Carrie murmured at the view before her. She surpassed the twin mountains five minutes ago and stumbled upon a empty field with a small flower patch in the middle. Other mountains surrounded the area, blocking off the view of any intruders. She felt somewhat safe here as she walked toward the flower patch.

(AN: You know the episode where Sonic gets flowers for Cream when she was down about her Mom? That little field.)

When she reached the flower patch, she noticed a small pond in the middle of it. But she felt too dirty to touch the blooming flowers. The flowers reminded her of innocence, and she lost her innocence 5 years ago. But she was really thirsty, her throat scratched from the constant dryness. So she tip toed through the flowers, making sure she didn't crush or touch any of them (which was rather difficult). She finally reached the small pond and checked to see if it was clean. It was more than clean, it was pure. She lost her purity as well with what she had experienced.

Shaking her head, she decided to quench her thirst. She knelt next to the water and delicately cupped some liquid into her hands (after cleaning her hand wounds, of course). Her sipping became gulping as she became overwhelmed with the fresh taste of the pond's water. She drank more and more until she felt nauseas from the overload of hydration (even when she was deprived of it for years). With a rush of dizziness, Carrie fell back into the flowers and laid there. She looked at afternoon sun and tried to bathe in its warmth. But her body was still cold from the night before. She pulled out her bag and took out a Snickers bar. She ate it quickly and put the wrapper back into the bag, in fear of the men finding it while tracking her down.

Her discomfort about the flowers' purity and innocence faded when her body decided to pass out. She rolled to her side to curl up in her fetal position… she felt as if she can be overlooked that way. Before passing out, she couldn't help but feel her injuries' throb. She soon fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

Sonic zoomed over the hills and mountains as the air blew through his spikes. He relaxed when he saw his favorite flower patch come into view. He jumped over the flowers and landed on a rock. He laid back and soaked in the sun's rays. He let his hand fall to the side of the rock and into the cool pond. The cool sensation relaxed him… funny, this was the only body of water that didn't scare him.

Cough.

_Huh? _Sonic jumped up when he heard a cough. He quickly looked around and his eyes stopped on the sleeping figure. With curiosity racking his brain, he quietly zoomed over. He gasped when he saw an injured girl, shivering because she was probably getting sick. _She obviously needs help._

"Hey," Sonic gently shook her shoulder. She mumbled some words but didn't wake. "Hey!" He shook harder but jumped when she jolted out of her slumber. "Whoa!"

Carrie didn't know what to think when she saw a _talking_ blue creature before her. Creature or not, she couldn't risk getting caught again. She quickly dug in her bag, grabbed a rock and chucked it at him. She was surprised when he easily dodged it. She threw another one, but when he was distracted with that rock, she grabbed her pocket knife.

Sonic froze when she held up her knife. "Do I look that dangerous? Listen, girl, I'm not going to hurt you!" Sonic held up his hands in attempt to reassure her that he wasn't going to harm her in any way. He raised an eyebrow when she stumbled back when he talked. Could Sonic disarm her? Of course, he could…. But he wanted to calm her down, not scare her.

"Liar…." She growled threateningly.

"What?" Sonic asked quietly. He never liked being called a liar.

"Liar!" She repeated as she stepped back. She looked like she was going to make a run for it.

"Hey!" Sonic put his hands on his hips and scowled. "Listen, I'm telling the truth. I'm not going to hurt you. And I'm not going to leave you alone cause you look like you're in need of help. So, stop being rude to your rescuer."

"Please go away," her glare was replaced with pleading. She had a single tear escape her eye but she quickly wiped it away. She used to get beaten for crying… she wasn't about to risk her life because of her emotions. But sorrow took over; she dropped her knife and fell to her knees in defeat. "Please… go away."

"Hey," Sonic called softly as he carefully walked up to her. "Like I said before, I'm going to help you. I don't know what happened to you, but I'll make sure it won't happen again."

"How do I know you are not like them?" she whispered as she looked up. She became scared when he gasped and started to move close to her face. She scooted backwards and held up her hand (palm out). She shut her eyes tightly and waited for a hit… but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and saw his shocked face.

"That scar on your hand… where did you get that?" Sonic asked as he gently grabbed her hand and examined it. She froze in fear at the sudden contact. Sonic noted that she had a fresh wound too, she actually had a lot of fresh wounds and bruises. "Calm down, it's just that my friend, Chris, has the same scar."

"Chris?!" Carrie eyes widened as she heard his name for the first time in years. Then glared dangerously and whipped her hand back. "How do you know Chris? You better not have hurt him!" she growled.

"Whoa, settle down there!" Sonic again raised his hands. "Chris is my friend! Actually, you look a lot like him."

"I do?" Carrie looked at him skeptically.

"Yeah, you guys have similar features and your hair is the same color. But his eyes are blue, not green."

"Oh…. What's his last name?" Carrie asked hopefully.

"Thorndyke. Chris Thorndyke." Sonic confirmed but felt uncomfortable when tears started streaking down her face. With his suspicions sky-rocketing, he decided to solve this little mystery. "What is your name?"

She looked at him unsure. Should she give her name to him or should she run away? But before she could decide, her mouth decided for her.

"Carrie," she whispered. "My name is Carrie."

"You're his sister, aren't you?" Sonic asked quietly and knelt down to meet her eyes. "You're Carrie Thorndyke."

"Yes," she barely choked out as she met his vibrant green eyes.

"Wow," Sonic blinked surprisingly. "I can't believe it…. It was just last night we were talking about you, and now… damn, here you are!" He looked at her and shook his head to get over the shock. "We gotta get you back!" He went to pick her up but stopped when she flinched backwards. "Don't you trust me by now?"

"I'm not sure who to trust anymore…." She looked down in defeat.

"Hey," he lifted her chin and surprisingly, she didn't react. "It's ok. I'm going to take you to Chris and we're going to fix you up. But for me to take you, I need to carry you… which requires touching."

"I can walk."

"You are too injured to be walking and by the looks of it, you're getting sick. You can trust me, don't worry. Can I have your permission to carry you?" he asked carefully. He smiled softly when she reluctantly nodded. "Ok, thank you." With that, he picked her up bridal style while being cautious of her wounds.

"Before we go," she said quietly. "What's your name?"

"My name is Sonic the Hedgehog. But just call me Sonic," he smiled. "Now, hold on…. This is going to be fast."

"Fast?" she questioned. She was answered when Sonic zoomed quickly toward the other mountains. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck as she buried her face in it. She whimpered as he jumped over some rocks and cliffs.

"It's ok," he comforted. "I may be fast, but I'm careful. Especially when I have fragile cargo on board."

* * *

Some time passed and Sonic was about to make it to the mansion. Carrie couldn't help but feel nervous when she was about to see her family again. Honestly, she wanted to change out of her dirty clothes and cover up her body. She felt ashamed and unworthy for some reason. With the tension building up in her chest, she did something she didn't expect herself doing.

"Sonic," she whispered. "Stop."

"Huh?" he cocked his head as he obeyed her request. She crawled out his strong arms and gazed at her home, which was right on the horizon. "What's wrong? We're practically there."

"I can't…." she put her head down and she hugged herself with her tattered arms.

"What do you mean? Don't you want to see your family again?" Sonic asked as he faced her.

"I do… but what if…." She sighed as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She collapsed onto her knees as she continued to hug herself.

"What if what?" he walked up to her and met her at eye level.

"I've changed… I'm not my parent's little girl or Chris's big sister. That Carrie was innocent and not tainted. I'm not her anymore. I don't know if I can handle any more hurt." More tears started to fall as she opened up to the blue hedgehog. Why? She wasn't so sure.

"Hey," he started softly and laid his gloved hand on her shoulder. "They loved you then and they'll love you now. It doesn't matter how much you have changed… it wasn't even your choice to. They'll understand, Carrie. I know Chris definitely will."

"But I'm endangering them. Those men are looking for me and how long do you think it will take for them find me? What if they kill them when coming back for me?"

"More than likely, they will come for you. But you don't have to worry about that." Sonic replied with a cocky grin. "I'll take care those jerks if they come anywhere near you or your family."

"I feel bad that you are a part of this mess…."

"Carrie… I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. I save the day like… everyday! It's nothing new and it's no burden. I like being the hero!"

"You sure?" she looked at him with glossy eyes.

"Positive. Now, stop stalling and let's start this family reunion!"


	5. Chapter 5

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter Five: Reuniting Broken Hearts

"Hello?" Sonic sang as he walked through the backdoor with Carrie following hesitantly. "Chris? Ella? Chuck?"

"Ella and Grandpa are still around?" Carrie asked with happiness.

"Hell yeah, they're still around. Wait till you meet-"

"Mr. Sonic?" Tanaka made Sonic and Carrie jump.

"Oh man! Don't do that Tanaka!" Sonic breathed.

"Mr. Sonic, can I ask why is that girl hiding behind you?"

"Huh?" Sonic turned his head a saw Carrie out of the corner of his eye. She was indeed hiding behind him; she was kneeling and hiding her face within his quills. _Well, it looks like she trusts me now._ "This is Carrie, Tanaka. She's actually Chris's big sister."

"Carrie Thorndyke? The one that has been missing for five years?" Tanaka watched them with shocked eyes.

"Yep, the one and only!" he smiled as turned around to face a scared Carrie. "It's ok, Carrie. This is Mr. Tanaka, your family's butler. He came around a little after you left. He's safe, don't worry."

Carrie nodded timidly as she stood up to greet Tanaka. She just nodded her head as she hugged herself again. "Hello, Mr. Tanaka. I'm C-carrie." She blushed when she stuttered… she used to get beaten for stuttering.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Thorndyke." Tanaka bowed respectively. He looked at Sonic and added, "I'm afraid everyone went out for a late picnic lunch. They won't be back till 5."

"Oh," Sonic looked the other way in slight disappointment. "It's 3 now, so that's just two hours. I guess in the mean time, we could get something to eat. Carrie, are you hungry?"

"Uh, I suppose." She looked down with a faint blush. She wasn't used to hospitality just yet.

"Can I make a suggestion," Tanaka asked.

"Shoot," Sonic turned back to Tanaka.

"I suggest that Miss. Thorndyke clean her wounds before eating. They could get infected if not taken care of."

"You're absolutely right, Tanaka!" Sonic turned back to Carrie. "How about we bandage you up and see if you have any extreme, serious injuries. You would probably like new clothes too."

Carrie timidly nodded as her response.

"Well, how about this…. You go shower and clean up, I'll go and get you clothes. I'm thinking you should wear something lose and comfy so your injuries won't be irritated. Are pajamas cool with you?" Carrie nodded. "Any specific color?" She shook her head. "I'll guess I'll have to surprise you. And when the others get back, you can get more clothes then."

"All of this is not necessary," she put down her head to hide her blush. "I can make do with what I have."

"Now, now, Carrie. You're getting new clothes and you're eating food if you like it or not. Now, go clean up and I'll be back with some goods." Sonic gave her a thumb up as she smiled.

"I'll show you to the bathroom, Miss. Thorndyke." Tanaka bowed.

* * *

Sonic zoomed through the store as cheesy music played through the speakers. Everyone whispered and pointed at the blue blur when passing through random aisles.

"Excuse me, miss?" Sonic made a sales girl jump. She quickly turned around and stared blankly at the blue hedgehog. "Could you tell me where your junior girl's clothes are?"

"Uh, over there," she pointed behind him.

Sonic turned around and saw teenager clothing on racks. "Thanks!" He zoomed away and looked at the selection. "Wow, this is going to be harder than I thought…."

"Do you need help, young one?" an old saleswoman asked as she walked up to Sonic.

"Uh, yeah, actually. I have girl friend, I mean… a friend that is a girl… and all of her clothes were… stolen! Yes, stolen. So, I wanted to find some pajamas for her."

"Oh, the poor thing! Here, I'll show you the pajamas that most teenage girls wear." She walked up to the racks and something to Sonic.

"Um… I need pajamas." Sonic blushed as he held out a skimpy nightdress.

"That's a nightdress… most girls buy them."

"Well, I don't think this is her… style. I was hoping for something more… cozy and comfortable."

"Oh," the saleswoman clapped her hands and put away the nightdress. "So there are decent ladies out there! Let me show you something that she'll love!" She walked over to another rack and pulled out flannel pants and a long sleeveless top. "Any specific color?"

"Uh, she didn't say."

"What's her favorite color then?"

"Uh, she didn't say that either."

"What color are her eyes?"

"Huh?" Sonic tilted his head to the side. _What does this have to do with anything?_

"When you can't decide on a color, go with the color of eyes." She said wisely.

"Her eyes are green."

"Okie dokie. One size fits all." she handed him a green pair of pajamas. "Now, what is her underwear size?"

"WHA?!" Sonic jumped back nervously.

"Well, you said all of her clothes were stolen… I'm sure she would like undergarments. Can't let the ladies hang around, you know."

"Ok, ok, too much info." Sonic held up his hands. "Listen, you're right… she probably could use some new _undergarments._ But I don't know her size!"

"Well, what does she look like?" The saleslady walked over to the underwear section.

"Uh," Sonic looked around nervously as underwear and bras dangled in front of him.

"Is she small, or is she big?" The lady asked as she went through the underwear selection.

"Well, she's definitely not big… I would say small."

"Is she medium?"

"No, she's small."

"Alrighty then, I'll just give you boyshorts. Unless she likes thongs."

"The most covering is appreciated, ma'am." With that, she picked out gray boyshorts.

"Ok, then. Now, what is her bra size?" The lady walked over near the bras.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?" Sonic sweat dropped as he put hands on his hips.

"Calm down, deary. Let's go with a sports bra. Then we don't need to worry about cup sizes. Now, how big are her breasts?"

"I don't know! I wasn't looking!" Sonic crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Pah-lease, deary." The lady gave Sonic the 'as if' look. She held up two bras, one was too small and the other was super big. "Pick."

"Fine," Sonic sighed in annoyance as he looked at his choices. "Well, I think that one will suffocate her and the other is like a potato bag. Is there something… medium-small?"

"Here you go," she grabbed a gray sports bra and handed it to him. She also handed him the other garments. "Is that all for today? Do you need socks for her?"

"I'll grab those! Thank you, bye!" Sonic hastily zoomed away while grabbing a pair of socks on the way out. He quickly dashed by the register and dropped money on the cashier.

"Keep the change!"

* * *

Carrie yelped when the hot water clashed onto her tender wounds. She jumped back in attempts to avoid the steamy water. But jumping back caused her fall through the shower curtain. She tried to balance herself but her punctured feet stung and made her tumble over.

"AHH!!" she screamed as she fell through the shower curtain and crashed onto the tile floor. "Oof!... dammit!" She sat up and tried to ignore the throbbing pain that was coursing through body.

"Uhhh," a voice called unsure behind the door. It sounded like Sonic. "Is everything ok in there, Carrie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She grunted annoyingly at her pain.

"Oh… ok. I'm going to leave the clothes next to the door. Let me know when you're ready."

"Thank you, Sonic," she said sincerely.

"No problem!"

* * *

Carrie hissed in pain when her shirt brushed against her tender back. When she showered, she discovered she had new scratches and cuts across her spine and shoulder blades. She figured it was from falling down at the waterfall. When she was fully clothed and cleaned for the first time in a long time, she stood in front of the full length mirror. Sonic picked out a green sleeveless shirt (which was surprisingly long) and green flannel pants. She was surprised when Sonic picked up a sports bra and underwear. As she stared at the mirror, she had a horrid flashback.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Look in the mirror, darling…." His voice snarled perversely. He slapped her bare skin hard when Carrie kept her gaze on the ground. "I said LOOK IN THE FUCKING MIRROR!"_

_With hatred and sorrow__ mixing into her eyes__, she looked up at the mirror. He had her bent over naked__ while he was 'readying' himself behind her. He waved and smirked evilly. "You're my little whore. You will always be a WHORE!" _

_With that, he had his way by force._

_END FLASHBACK_

She quickly turned around and dashed out of the bathroom. She didn't know where she was running but she didn't care. As long she was away from the dreadful mirror, she could care less on where she was at in the mansion.

She paced fast toward the kitchen. While her mind was preoccupied, she didn't watch where she was going. Just when she closed her eyes to clear her head, she tripped over something. "WAHH!" She braced herself to hit hard on the ground, but she found herself caught in a pair of arms.

"Hey, Carrie, you ok? That would've hurt if I wasn't here to save you." Sonic smirked.

Carrie opened her eyes and looked at him blankly. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize! I told you before, I like being the hero." Sonic helped her steady herself as she stood up. "Now, let's eat! I got chili dogs!"

* * *

After eating their chili dogs, Sonic and Tanaka started aiding Carrie's wounds.

"Mr. Sonic, Miss. Thorndyke, the others should be here shortly." Mr. Tanaka informed as he handed Sonic another bandage for Carrie's hand.

"Thanks, man!" Sonic grinned as he wrapped the bandage around Carrie's punctured hand. "Carrie, does this hurt at all?"

"No, it doesn't." Carrie shook her head as she smiled appreciatively. There was silence for a few minutes as Sonic examined her feet.

"Geez, Carrie! What did they do to your hands and feet? I mean, it's like they hammered big nails into them!"

"Um," she timidly choked out. "They did."

"What?!" Sonic stopped with what he was doing and stared wide-eyed at her. "They actually _hammered_ your hands and feet?"

"Miss. Thorndyke," Tanaka was also examining her injuries from a distance. "May we ask why they did this to you?"

Carrie looked away, unable to think of an honest answer. Why did they do it, anyway? Why did they take her in the first place? Why did they keep her alive after all these years? "Other than to keep me from escaping…. I don't know." She looked down ashamed. _Damn, these two are being so nice to me and I can't even give them answers because I don't know them._

"All we know of a cruel heart is that their motives are their wants. But we never know why they want it." Tanaka spoke wisely.

"And I was too weak to fight it…." Carrie barely spoke in a whisper. Damn, she feels really pathetic. For five years, she sworn never to trust strangers… and here she was, being taken care of by two males.

"Hey, you're not weak." Sonic lifted her chin so she could look in his eyes. "You survived something that not many people could live through. And at the end, you escaped. And you did that on your own."

"But I didn't do it on my own… you-"

"I showed up after you escaped. You got out on your own; you went through pain on your own… you fought this alone. We're just rubbing your shoulders after your match." Sonic grinned slyly and turned to Tanaka with a cocky smile. "Oh yeah…. I'm deep."

Carrie snickered for the first time in five years. Her snickering turned into a chuckle, and then her chuckle turned into full-hearted laugh. His comment wasn't even that funny but she couldn't stop laughing. Sonic stared at her blankly but then soon joined in. Tanaka didn't laugh at all, he looked at them weirdly.

"Hey, we're home!"

Carrie stopped laughing when she heard a familiar voice. She froze even more when he entered the kitchen.

* * *

"Hey, Sonic, where have you bee-" Chris stopped in his tracks when he saw a 15 year old girl sitting at the table. She looked a lot like him, except for her green eyes. Wait, no one had emerald eyes like that but- "C-carrie?"

"Chris, what are you muttering abo-" Ella gasped when she saw her. She dropped her picnic basket, that she was carrying, and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Hey, who's that?" Amy Rose walked in, feeling rather jealous that Sonic was holding her bare foot. "And why is _my_ Sonic holding her foot?"

"Sonic is holding whose foot?" Chuck was rather confused when he walked in. But he became shocked when he saw his granddaughter at the kitchen table. _Wait, how can that be Carrie? She's dead…. Isn't she?_

Carrie nervously rubbed her arm when more people, er, animals came in and stared at her. She knew it, they're not accepting her. Her heart plummeted to her stomach as she looked away from their shocked faces. She hasn't even said anything and they already thought that she's filthy. And with the pink girl glaring at her didn't help her feel better. _Wow, I just got here and they already hate me._ Tears welled up in her eyes as pulled away from Sonic and ran out.

Everyone stared at the empty spot where Carrie sat. "Sonic?" Chris whispered as he unable to move. "Was that?" He could barely finish so he pointed in the direction that the girl left.

"Mr. Chris," Tanaka bowed respectively. "I suggest that you go after your sister."

* * *

_They're disgusted! They're disgusted with me!_ Hot tears cascaded down her bruised cheeks as she ran out of the mansion. She ran through the garden and collapsed in front of the memorial. She put her face in her hands and balled her eyes out. As her body racked in sobs, she couldn't control her coughing. _Oh, great! Now I'm__ getting __more__ sick_

Chris was standing behind her with tears running down his face. "Are you really Carrie?" he whispered. His hushed question blew in the air and brushed along the swaying trees. He knew she heard him when she stopped sobbing and controlled her coughing; she turned her body around but kept her face down. Her orange locks glistened in the dusk's sun as more small tears drip onto her new bandages. "Please, tell me the truth. Are you really Carrie?" Chris knelt in front of her and looked at her intensely.

Chris watched in curiosity when she started removing her hand's bandage. After discarding the cloth and she slowly held her hand up with her palm open. More tears escaped Chris's eyes, but these tears were tears of joy as he saw the familiar scar. He too held up his hand to show her his scar. She opened her eyes and saw it. She smiled but quickly remembered their appalled faces.

When Chris moved, she assumed he was going to walk away. But her body tensed up when brotherly arms wrapped around her shoulders. She smiled in relief as she returned the hug tightly.

"I missed you so much, Carrie."

"I missed you too, little brother."


	6. Chapter 6

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 6: Catching Up

It's been three days since Carrie has return from her 5 year disappearance. Knowing she wasn't ready to talk about what had happened, everybody decided to wait till she was ready. Ella tried calling Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke, but the two were out of town and staying in an area with no cell phone service.

Every day, Carrie and Chris would talk about the old days (which always brought a sad smile to their faces).

Every day, Ella would tend to Carrie's wounds to insure that they were healing properly.

Every day, Carrie would try to eat 3 full meals to get her weight back up for it was dangerously low. But after the years of not eating much, her appetite has adjusted to her lifestyle.

Every day, Carrie would pick flowers with Cream and Cheese. Tails and her Grandpa would show her their nifty inventions and teach her a thing or two about science. Amy had lightened up to Sonic and Carrie's friendship but was still slightly jealous. Carrie enjoyed Sonic's company very much, she always felt safe around him.

As well as the daytime goes, unfortunately, nighttime was something that Carrie never looked forward to. She could never sleep because she would have horrible flashbacks at the warehouse.

* * *

Bang!

Carrie jerked into a sitting position in her soft bed. She sat there for a moment and waited for the same sound to pierce her hearing. After a moment of silence, she sighed and lay back down.

Thump, thump, thump!

_I know those footsteps! _She exclaimed in her head as she jumped out of her warm comforters. She clenched her fists through her bandages as she stared at her closed door.

Thump, thump, thump!

Her breathing started to become short rasps as she desperately looked around her room for a hiding spot. _The closet!_ It wasn't much but it was something. As the thumps grew louder and more intense, Carrie dove into her closet and hid with the door shut. As she buried herself under old clothes and stuffed animals, she listened to her door open with an eerie creak. She tried to stop her heart from beating for she was positive that anyone could hear it. She held her breath when the thumps stopped in her room.

After a few bitter moments of silence, she heard the footsteps hastily thump toward the closet. She froze when her door was swung open and she was dragged out by her hair. As she closed her eyes, hoping she would wake up from this horrible dream, she was thrown to the other side of the room. She hesitantly looked up and saw no one. With wide eyes, she looked around her empty room.

"What?" she murmured in fear and confusion. Just then, her door from her balcony burst into tiny glass pieces. She quickly got up and dashed out of her room, but she didn't get far because she tripped over something. After hitting the ground with a sickening crack, she howled from the pain that course through her left wrist. But she quickly tossed her pain aside when she felt hands trying to lift her up.

_They're trying to take me away again!_ She screamed as she kicked the figure hard in the stomach. The small figure hutched over in pain, Carrie took this opportunity to run. She tried to get up but another pair of arms hugged her securely. She struggled to get away but the hold was strong.

"Carrie! Chill out!"

Carrie stopped abruptly and looked into those familiar green eyes. Tears rimmed her eyes as she buried her face in his blue fur and cried her heart out.

"Whoa, whoa, what happened?" Sonic soothed.

"They're here, they're here," she choked out. "He tried to attack me!"

"You mean Knuckles?"

"Wha?" she looked up at him confusion. He nodded to the direction behind her and she quickly turned her head to look. She saw a red echidna with dreads hutched over in pain. He looked up at her in annoyance and anger as Carrie shrunk back into Sonic's arms. "Who are you?"

"Asking who I am would've been appreciated BEFORE you kicked me!" he growled.

"Knux, chill out. You scared her." Sonic defended as he felt Carrie tremble.

"How did I scare her? She tripped over me and I tried to help her up, and then she kicked me in my diaphragm!"

"I-I'm sorry," Carrie apologized. "I thought you were one of them…."

"One of who?" Knuckles cocked his eyebrow.

"The one in my room… and the one who broke my balcony door."

"Wait, what?" Sonic put her out at arm's length. "Someone is in your room?" She nodded timidly.

"Did you say that someone broke your glass sliding door?" Knuckles asked as he already went in her room.

"Yeah," she confirmed quietly.

"Well," Knuckles came back with his hands on his hips. "Well, no one is in your room and your sliding door seems to be fine."

"What?" Carrie got up and ran into her room. _What?_ Her room was fine, her balcony door was fine, and her closet was open and empty. "Huh?"

"Carrie," Sonic stood beside her. "Maybe it was a dream."

"But it felt so real…. I mean, the footsteps, me being thrown out of my closet when I hid… the balcony door breaking into pieces." She leaned back on her wall and slid down. "It felt so real…."

"What happened to your wrist?" Sonic asked as he kneeled in front of her.

"I'm afraid," Knuckles started after being quiet for a couple of minutes. "I'm afraid she injured herself when she tripped over me. Let me look at it." Knuckles walked up to her and delicately touched her wrist. She grimaced at the contact and flinched away.

"It's ok, Carrie…. Let him look at it." Sonic encourage as he moved to the side of her to let Knuckles get closer.

Reluctantly, Carrie allowed Knuckles examine her wrist. After a few seconds, Knuckles came to a conclusion. "Her wrist is broken. You should get a cast for that."

"Good job, Knux," Sonic sarcastically said as he glared at the echidna. "Her other wounds were beginning to heal, and then you show up and break her wrist. Thanks a lot."

"Hey! It's not my fault that she burst out of her room when I was passing by!"

"And you were too slow to move out of the way!"

"I couldn't! I was right next to her DOOR! She should've watched where she was going!"

"She probably was! You're just too short for her line of view!"

"You're the same height, blue-boy!"

"That may be so, but I CAUGHT her when she tripped over me!"

"And you two are scaring the shit out of my sister!" Chris's voice boomed annoyingly.

Sonic and Knuckles blinked as they stared at the teenage boy, who was standing in the doorway. And then at the same time, they realized that they were towering over a sitting (and a very scared) Carrie Thorndyke. She was in the fetal position with her good hand over her head.

"Whoops," they backed away. Knuckles just huffed in annoyance while Sonic kneeled next to Carrie.

"I'm sorry, Carrie… I didn't mean to scare ya," Sonic apologized sincerely. He smiled when she looked up and weakly smiled back.

"It's ok," she replied. "I just couldn't move when you two stood up. All exits were blocked." She turned to Knuckles. "I'm sorry I tripped over you."

"And," Knuckles sighed. "I'm sorry that you broke your wrist when you fell."

"Carrie-WHAT?" Chris ran to his big sister and saw her wrist. "We better get this fixed, pronto."

* * *

"I don't see why we can't take her to the hospital to do this…." Ella, in her robe, stated as she crossed her arms. Carrie, Chuck, Chris, Ella, Sonic and Knuckles were all in Chuck's lab.

Chuck, who was making a cast for Carrie, replied. "Well, for one, Carrie is labeled as dead. Two, I don't think she is ready to go out in public."

"And three," Sonic piped while he was sitting on the counter. "Those goons are still out there somewhere. Knowing their handy work, they would assume she went to a hospital."

"But wouldn't they assume I went here too?" Carrie asked as she grimaced at the throbbing wrist.

"Yes," Chris answered. "But we got three-foot, walking, talking animals that can fight."

"Which is the answer for everything," Carrie numbly joked. She added in an advertisement voice, "Have a problem? Buy a speedy hedgehog at a local store near you!"

Sonic cocked his eyebrow in amusement but became more intrigued when Grandpa Chuck joined in.

"He walks, he talks, and all he needs is a lifetime supply of chili dogs!"

"This is… weird." Knuckles commented.

"Buy one now and get a red echidna that comes with a Chaos Emerald FOR FREE!"

"That's just insulting."

"Batteries are not included."

* * *

"Seriously, Chris, Sonic, you don't have to sleep on the floor." Carrie said as she readied her bed. "I mean, we could drag mattresses in here."

"No need for that, Carrie," Chris reassured as he lay down his sleeping bag on Carrie's floor.

"It will be like camping for us," Sonic also reassured as he too found a comfy spot on the floor.

"If you put it that way," Carrie smirked as she plopped her blankets and pillows on the floor.

"Carrie, you should sleep in your bed!" Chris scolded as he put his hands on his hips. "You're injured!"

"What?" Carrie asked innocently. "I like camping. C'mon, Chris, it will be like the old days."

"Oh yeah, when we used to camp in the garden and roast marshmallows with matches?"

"With matches?" Sonic cocked his eyebrow.

"You think we could get away with making a campfire in the garden? No way."

* * *

Chris, Sonic and Carrie formed a circle on the floor as they talked about… well, nothing. They set a flashlight in the middle of the circle and pretended it was a campfire. They all laid and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars that were plastered on the ceiling.

"So, Chris," Carrie started with a sly voice. "This wheelchair girl… that is your 'friend'… does she, ya know… like you back?"

"Who said I liked her?" Chris retorted.

"Chris, home-fry," Sonic grinned. "It's obvious."

"Is it really that obvious?" Chris sighed.

"Yeah," Sonic and Carrie chorused.

"Aw man! Well, to answer your question, Carrie… I don't know."

"Well, have you ever told her you liked her?" Carrie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What is up with girls and telling things?" Chris shook his head. "No, I haven't told her! What do you want me to do? Walk up to her and kiss her?"

"Whatever floats your boat, brother dear."

"No! That wouldn't float ANY boat!"

"Maybe to the girl that you'll be kissing…." Sonic remarked.

"That's what I'm saying," Carrie high-fived Sonic while still staring at the ceiling.

"What about you, Carrie? Why don't you go up to your crush and kiss him!" Chris crossed his arms.

"What crush, Chris? I've been held hostage for the past five years. Did you expect me to form romantic feelings toward my rapists? I don't think so."

"Whoa," Sonic looked at her wide-eyed. "Dark humor."

"I know, right?" Chris stated as he too stared at his sister wide-eyed.

"Yeah," Carrie awed. "I kinda creeped myself out." Silence.

"Carrie," Sonic started slowly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Silence.

"Carrie?"

Silence.

"Carrie? You ok?" Chris sat up and checked on his sister. He crawled over to her and saw her spacing out toward at the ceiling. She had no emotion on her face, she didn't move, she didn't even blink. Chris shook her shoulder but got no response. "Carrie, you're freaking me out here."

"What's going on?" Sonic asked as he crawled over. He too shook her shoulder, but again, she didn't respond. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. Carrie!" Chris moved into her line of sight and shook both of her shoulders. Her eyes stayed opened as a tear trickled out. "Sonic, I'm worried."

"Here, let me try." Sonic moved and saw a tear rolling down her cheek. "Carrie, can you move at all?" He got nothing but he felt something move beside him. He turned to look and saw Carrie's right hand clutching onto to her blanket. He noted that her fist trembled horribly and her knuckles were turning white. "Something's happening."


	7. Chapter 7

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 7: Taking Over

"Grandpa," Chris started to tear up. "What's going on?"

Everybody was in the lab and surrounding Carrie whom was lying on the metal table. Her eyes were still open with tears streaming down and she was still balling her fist. Chuck placed little 'sensors' on Carrie's forehead that connected to a machine that had a screen.

(AN: Let's just say this shit works… mm k? It's a cartoon, people… impossible things happen.)

"I'm not sure what's going on," Chuck answered honestly. "But it seems she's paralyzed and awake." Chuck watched the screen that seemed to measure Carrie's brain waves. "Wow, her brain waves are sky-rocketing! You see this line here," Chuck pointed to a yellow jumpy line. "That's her vision and I don't think she's staring at the ceiling… it wouldn't be so jumpy and out of whack."

"Then what is she seeing?" Ella asked.

"Not sure… but I think we can find out. Hold on." Chuck rolled his chair over to the closet desk and pulled out a helmet with wires sticking out of it. He rolled back to his trembling granddaughter and took off the sensors.

"What's that thing?" Amy asked worriedly.

"It's like the sensor she has now," Tails began to answer for Chuck. "But it's more intense. Not only it measures brain waves, but it can capture what she is seeing. It's like telepathy, but you can't read her thoughts… only see them."

"Yes, but the images are not perfect. It's going to be hard to tell what's going on but it will give us an idea what she is seeing." Chuck said as he delicately placed the helmet on Carrie's head. He took her hand and spoke to her, "Don't worry, Carrie… we're going to help you. Everything will be fixed, I promise." With that, he hooked the wires to the same machine. But the screen became blank for a second and then static showed. "Tails, I'm going to need you to direct."

"Got it!" Tails nodded as moved to see the screen fully. "I'm ready."

With that, Chuck started turning knobs on the complicated machine. When he started messing with the knobs and the switches, the picture on the screen began to change.

"The contrast is too high… all I see is sharp blotches." Tails stated.

"I'll fix that," Chuck turned another knob as the picture became less contrasting.

"I'm starting to see something, Chuck… lower the contrast some more."

Chuck nodded as he slowly altered the image.

"Ok, stop," Tails commanded softly. He looked at the screen with shock and fear. "Oh my God."

"What?" everyone piled behind to see the screen.

On the screen, there were 6 figures which appeared to be looking down and laughing insanely. Every few seconds, the image would flash into something else like running, but it would switch right back to 6 shadows. There was one flash where hands were nailed to something. There was another flash where barb-wires were dangling back and forth while dripping with blood.

Syringes, knives, drills… multiple tools or objects that scrape, cut, stab, etc. on Carrie's body would flash before their eyes. But the same 6 laughing shadows would appear again.

"What, what's going on?" Chris whimpered at the frightening images.

"What are these?" Amy questioned as tears rimmed her eyes. "They're horrible!"

"Did these things happen to Miss. Carrie?" Cream asked while she trembled.

"Cream, Cheese," Sonic turned to the small bunny and her Chao. "Why don't you and Ella make some cookies? You know, for when Carrie wakes up? I'm sure she would love that."

Ella, getting the idea, took Cream's hand softly and led her away. "Yes, Cream, let's come up with some ideas to make Carrie feel better."

After the three left, Sonic turned to Chris and spoke. "Chris, maybe you shouldn't watch this."

"No," Chris looked briefly away from the flashing horrors and looked at Sonic determinedly. "I wasn't able to help her when she was with those monsters, so I'm going to help her now."

"I'm with Chris on this one," Chuck stated sternly as he watched screen with anger. "I felt useless when my wife died… and the same people that murdered her have done this to my granddaughter. I'm sure of it. They may have not killed her body, but they are surely trying to kill her spirit. But her spirit is too strong…. I know Carrie is still fighting these demons mentally and I want to help her."

"She can't possibly do this alone," Amy stated softly. "We all have to help her."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they turned back to the screen to see something different. It was a man with a disfigured face, and he appeared to be hovering over Carrie's line of sight (meaning he is hovering over her in person). He started mouthing words and then began to choke her.

Everyone snapped their heads to Carrie when she started to make choking sounds. Her face started to turn red; her veins started popping up from the lack of circulation. More tears fall from her wide-eyes and she struggled to move.

"What the?" Knuckles questioned in shock. "It's like she is being straggled! Right in front of us!"

"But," Tails re-butted. "No one is here besides us!"

"Carrie!" Chris ran up to his big sister and whipped the helmet off. He began shaking her violently, hoping to snap her out of her horrid trance. "Snap out of it!" Chris started to panic when Carrie's face turned slightly blue. "Shit! I think she is choking!"

"Move!" Sonic jumped on the table and straddled Carrie. He cupped her face in his hands and started whispering. "Carrie, this isn't real. You're not with them, you're with us. I know you can hear me, follow my voice. You'll be safe if you follow my voice."

"A-a-air," she barely choked out.

Sonic didn't need think twice when he crashed his mouth onto Carrie's and blew air into her. He kept repeating the process until she started coughing violently. He moved away and guided her to lie on her side as she coughed. Her body racked as tears dripped onto the metal table. While she attempted to calm her panicky body, Sonic rubbed her back.

After a few moments of settling down, Carrie sat up while still trembling.

"Are you ok?" Sonic asked as he moved a strand of hair from her face. All she could do was nod and she continued to shake.

"Carrie," Chuck took a cold, wet cloth to her forehead and padded the sweat off her. "What happened?"

"T-th-th," Carrie tried to respond but she kept stuttering. She couldn't get anything out.

"Guys, look!" Knuckles as he pushed through everyone.

"What is it, Knuckles?" Amy asked.

"Her neck," he responded as he pointed at her neck. "Her neck is bruised!"

He was right; Carrie's neck had two purple hand-prints embedded on her flesh.

"It's like it was really happening," Chris stated in awe.

"I believe," a voice from behind everybody started. They turned their heads to Mr. Tanaka who was holding a newspaper. "I believe we have a bad situation on our hands."

"Well, obviously," Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Carrie," Tanaka walked up to Carrie as everyone back away to give some room. "Are these the monsters that did this to you?" He held up the newspaper to show Carrie.

Carrie's eyes widened when she saw the front page.

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

"What's going on, Mr. Tanaka?" Chris asked worriedly.

Tanaka looked at the page and started to read. "Two days ago, a warehouse has been discovered along with 6 dead males. 5 of the males were shot in the chest, while last one appeared to have committed suicide. After finding identification in the warehouse, the suicidal victim was discovered to be Justin Honeybush. Justin Honeybush was a part of the kidnapping of Carrie Thorndyke and the murder of her Grandmother 5 years ago. The other males remain nameless for there are no signs of any identification. The police are baffled about a certain bedroom found in the back of the warehouse. It was a small 10x10 room that contained a twin mattress. Tattered articles of clothing, which were hidden under the mattress, appeared to belong to a female. Police suspect that these articles of clothing belong to Carrie Thorndyke, which appear to be alive. On the wall of her room, 'You will join us, Carrie' was written on the wall in blood. Police have decided to set a warrant out for Carrie's arrest for questioning and possible murder."

"W-what? Murder?!" Chris was appalled.

Everyone turned their heads to Carrie who was in complete shock.

"Carrie," Sonic started softly. "Did you murder them?"

"N-n-no," Carrie shook her head nervously.

"It's ok, Carrie," Chuck place his hand on Carrie's shoulder (who slightly flinched). "We won't turn you in, but we need to know if you killed them or not."

"I d-d-didn't k-kill anyo-one!" Carrie stood up and glared. "I e-e-scaped!"

"It's ok, Carrie," Chris stepped up. "We believe you. But we should talk to the police to straighten this out."

"N-n-no!" Carrie stuttered. "T-t-there were s-six men w-with J-justin."

"So," Amy questioned. "So not all of them are dead?"

"O-o-one is a c-cop." Carrie looked down defeated.

_FLASHBACK_

_A young Carrie's head snapped to the side after a harsh slap._

_"Don't bother going to the law, dear,"__ the crooked cop warned. __"Because, I am the law."_

_END FLASHBACK_

"Whoa," Sonic eyes widened. "So you think he's going to try to pin this on you?"

Carrie nodded numbly.

"They don't have proof!" Amy yelled. "And they kidnapped her! Even if they did make it look like she killed them, people would have to look at it as self defense! And the Justin guy killed himself! Nothing adds up to Carrie killing, nothing makes sense!"

"With a police officer involved," Chuck said grimly. "He can warp anything."

"Well," Tails started while rubbing his chin. "We can't go to the police; they'll take her for sure."

"And that crooked cop is with them," Knuckles mentioned. "He could hurt Carrie."

"But she can't stay here," Chris pointed out. "The cops would be stopping by here for sure. With a warrant, they can walk in without even asking."

"Then we have no other choice," Sonic stepped forward. Everyone looked at him, waiting for his plan. "We run."

"I-I don't w-want to i-involve you g-guys anymore," Carrie said sternly.

"You have no choice, Carrie," Sonic winked. "We're like super glue… you're stuck with us."

"But where will we go?" Tails asked.

"We look for the emeralds," Knuckles answered. All heads turned to him in confusion.

"What happened to the emeralds this time?" Amy asked in annoyance. "I thought you were watching them! You ARE the guardian, you know. Can't you hold onto them for more than FIVE minutes?"

"Shut up!" Knuckles growled. "They were stolen while I was sleeping. That's why I came here in the first place. But something else is wrong…."

"Oh great, what now?" Sonic asked he crossed his arms.

"The Chaos Emerald… it grew dark."


	8. Chapter 8

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 8 – Hunting

"Now," Ella started as she held the siblings at arm's length. "I want you two to be sure to take care of yourselves. Chris, no sweets right before bedtime. Carrie, be sure to have someone change your bandages once or twice a day."

"Don't worry, Ella!" Chris sweat dropped. "We'll be fine! It's nothing I haven't done before."

"Yes, but Carrie hasn't. Carrie, are you sure you're going to be ok?"

Carrie just nodded. She hasn't spoken since the news which was 6 hours ago. With a final hug, Ella let the two siblings go aboard the Tornado Suite.

The Tornado Suite was a new invention of Tails and Chuck. It looked like a cruise ship and a UFO fused together. Its strong titanium metal was able to camouflage to any surrounding, but only for an hour. Camouflaging takes up a lot of energy from the fake chaos emeralds (which took 10 fake emeralds to run this ship altogether). The inside was 'futuristic' with its round-like walls and sliding doors. There were 10 bedrooms, a medical room, a kitchen with a metal dining counter, a lounge, a power vault (which will be holding the real and fake emeralds along with the big chaos emerald), and the command center. The command center is where the piloting and searching will be taking place. There's sits for everyone but there were only three main control chairs (Tails, Amy and Chris).

"C''mon, Carrie, Chris!" Tails called as he walked up to the siblings as they entered. "I'll show you your guys' rooms."

"Thanks, Tails!" Chris smiled as carried his suitcase. He was wearing his normal attire.

Carrie just nodded and smiled weakly as her thank you. She held her new backpack, which contained the medical supplies and dragged her rolling suitcase with her good hand. In her casted forearm, she hugged a sketchbook with a pencil to her chest. Over the past two days, Ella bought clothes and other necessities. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans, green shirt and a small black zip-up hoodie (she had to roll up her sleeve for her cast).

"Hey, Carrie," Knuckles walked up to Carrie. She stopped to look down at him. "You shouldn't be carrying things with that bad wrist. I'll take the suitcase and backpack for you."

She blinked as he took her suitcase and backpack from her and followed Tails. She stood there dumbfounded. _Wow… I'm not used to that._

"Carrie! C'mon! Your room is right here!" Chris called back. With that, Chris trotted to catch up, her feet were sore today so she couldn't move around much. When she reached them, she nodded her thank you and smiled appreciatively to Tails and Knuckles. With that, she walked into her room and her door shut automatically.

"I bet that door startled her." Tails commented as he directed Chris to his new room. "Hey, Chris, does Carrie draw?"

"I was wondering the same thing," commented Knuckles as he followed closely behind.

"Carrie used to draw all the time when we were younger," Chris answered. "Ella bought the sketchbook hoping it will help Carrie recover."

"How are you doing with all of this?" Tails asked as they walked into Chris's new room.

"I'm just grateful to have my big sis back. But I keep thinking that everything is going to go back to normal… but, I know that's not going to happen for awhile."

"It will take time, Chris," Knuckles said wisely. "But Carrie is strong. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be here and able to trust us."

"I know," Chris smiled weakly. "Where's everybody?"

"Everyone is settling in their rooms," Tails answered. "We'll be taking off in 10 minutes. I'm going to tell everyone, over the speaker, to meet in the command center"

"I'll come with you guys."

* * *

10 minutes later….

"Alright, everyone! Buckle up!" Tails called from the main chair. After everyone took their seats, Tails began to countdown. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1! TAKE OFF!"

The entire ship shook as it took off into the air.

"Tails, you're a bit rusty on your take off," Amy commented as she sat beside the fox.

"I'm used to the Tornado and I haven't flown a big ship in a while! Cut me some slack, will ya?" Tails scowled. Chris just chuckled from the other side.

* * *

"Ok, everyone," Tails started after being 15 minutes in the air. "You can go to your rooms or do whatever. At 5 pm, which is in 3 hours, I'm going to put this baby on Auto-Rest for the night."

"What's Auto-Rest, Tails?" Cream innocently asked.

"It's when the Tornado Suite sits in the air without anyone being at the controls. Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, an alarm will go off. And I'm pretty close to the command room as it is."

"Ahh," Cream awed. "That's very smart of you, Tails."

"Oh, ha ha," Tails nervously laughed with a blush. "Thanks, Cream."

* * *

It was 5pm and the Tornado Suite was put on Auto-Rest.

Carrie pulled out her colored pencils from her suitcase and walked over to her desk. On her desk, her sketchbook sat there, waiting for her draw something. She took out a black pencil and held it up to the paper… she froze. As she sat there, looking at her blank paper, she started to get frustrated. She tossed her pencil to the side and got up. Walking over to the window, Carrie took in the scenery. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.

_I can't even draw anymore… man, I'm so useless._

_Yes, yes you are._

Carrie jumped up and looked around. _Who was that? Man, I'm hearing things._

_You're not hearing, Carrie… You're thinking._

_Thinking, what? Who is this?_

_I'm you._

With that, an image of a young Carrie appeared on the window.

_What the hell?_

_What? You seemed surprised. We were bound to run into each other again._

_Again?__ What do you mean?__ We're the same person… how can you meet yourself again?_

_Wow, you are useless… and stupid._

_Why am I insulting myself_

_Let me explain, I, the main Carrie, have been pushed out 5 years ago. And then you, the new Carrie, replaced me._

_5 years ago? Why were you pushed out?_

_Because__ my weak side, you, didn't fight back.__ And you haven't fought at all since then. I would've pounded those assholes._

_But I ran away! I escaped!_

_That's not fighting… that's fleeing. I would've killed those bastards and walked away._

_There's no way you could've fought them! __7 men against one girl?__ You'd be killed._

_I rather die with honor than runaway like a coward._

_What's so honorable about being raped and killed? It's humiliating._

_So is running away._

_It sounds like no matter what we would've done, it'__s humiliating. But I rather __be__ alive and humiliated than have a humiliating death. At least by living, you can make up for it._

_Feh__, whatever.__ You're still useless. I mean, you can't do anything without that Sonic-guy or any of his friends helping you. You couldn't even carry your own suitcase._

_But… sigh you're right._

_I know I am._

_I am useless. I can't even change my own bandages… I have someone else do it._

_Hey, do us both a favor and kill yourself._

_What?! No! I got too far to give up!_

_But you're so weak and useless… and stupid. _

_But why would I kill myself? What about Chris?_

_What about him?_

_He would be hurt if I killed myself. _

_So, you're going through this humiliation for your pesky brother?_

_Yes,_ she stared strongly at the little Carrie. _I'm not keeping myself alive for me… I'm doing it for Chris!_

_Why?_

_Because we __can't be separated.__ We made sure of that years ago when we became blood brothers!_

_Oi__vay__, that__ whole 'our blood' bit. __So stupid._

_You know what? _

"Fuck YOU!" With that, Carrie threw her good fist at the window. But her small image caught her fist with a smile.

_Now, we're getting somewhere._

"Huh?"

_You actually think I came here to insult myself? That's retarded._

"Then why are you here?" Carrie blinked as she stepped back.

_You have to fight these spirits and you can't do it alone. Chris and others will want to help you, but think about it. The only person can defeat these spirits __is__ YOU. So, since I'm you, and you're me… well, you do the math. But we got to tough you up a bit. You had your moments of fighting back at me, but there were times you broke down. I'm going to help you not to break down._

"Carrie?" Cream's voice called from the other side of the door. "May I come in?"

_Well, that's my __que__. Talk to you later. _With that, the small Carrie was gone.

Carrie shook her head and walked over to the door. When she opened it, she saw Cream holding a tray of cookies. Carrie moved to the side to let Cream and Cheese in.

"I made these cookies for you, Miss. Carrie," Cream chirped as she held up the cookies. "They are supposed to make you feel better."

Carrie smiled warmly at the kind gesture. "You know what it'll make me feel more better?" Carrie asked softly.

"What's that?"

"If you help eat them. C'mon, let's go get some milk from the kitchen."

"Ok, Miss. Carrie!" Cream agreed with enthusiasm. But once they walked out the door, a alarm went off. "What's going on?"

Knuckles ran up to them and announced, "We found an emerald!"

* * *

"Where is it, Amy?" Sonic asked as he stood beside the trio at their main seats.

"Under the ocean," she answered.

"Great, just great." He mumbled in annoyance.


	9. Chapter 9

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 9 – Diving in Your Fears

As the Tornado Suite hovered over the water, everyone stood at the open entrance.

"Uh uh! I'm not going in there!" Sonic whined as he crossed his arms stubbornly.

"You whimp!" Knuckles insulted. "Fine, if you're to chicken to go in, then I will."

"Be my guest!"

"Some hero you are."

"All heroes have their weaknesses. Like Superman and kryptonite."

"That stone could actually kill him. He wasn't afraid like you are with water!"

"Water can kill you!"

While Knuckles and Sonic bickered, Carrie leaned toward Chris and whispered.

"Why won't Sonic go in the water?" Carrie asked quietly.

"Because he can't swim." Chris answered just as quietly.

"It sounds reasonable to me," Carrie stated as leaned away.

Sonic, who overheard the siblings' conversation, pointed at Knuckles. "Ha! You see? Carrie thinks it's reasonable not to have me in the water!"

"Will you two knock it off?" Amy roared. "Knuckles, go get the emerald!"

"Don't order me around!" Knuckles glared as he crossed his arms. "I don't take orders from anyone!"

"You will today!" Amy growled. She pointed at the entrance and continued to shout. "Now, GET IN THE WATER!"

"No!"

"You were just about to go get it!"

"Yeah, BEFORE you told me to!"

In the background, Carrie walked over to the scuba gear and put it on an oxygen mask. No one noticed because they were watching the fight.

_"This is a good time __build up your strength, Carrie,_" the little girl's voice stated in Carrie's mind.

_"I know,"_ Carrie replied mentally.

"This doesn't make sense!" Tails shouted. "Knuckles you were about go in but you decided not to because Amy told you to?"

"Yep," Knuckles raised his chin up stubbornly. "I don't take orders."

"But you were going to go in any way!"

"Get someone else to do it!"

SPLASH!

Everyone's head turned to the water and saw ripples.

"Uh, who jumped in?" Sonic raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know," Chris looked around and panicked. "The oxygen mask is gone and so is… CARRIE!" Everyone ran to the edge and looked around. "CARRIE!"

"What is she thinking?" Amy thought out loud. "She shouldn't go in there because she's injured!"

"Yeah," Tails agreed with worry. "And that salt water won't feel too good."

SPLASH!

Everyone turned to the second splash and realized a certain hedgehog was gone.

"SONIC!" Amy yelled.

* * *

Carrie swam nimbly at first, but she gradually got better. The salt water stung her wounds but she ignored it. Her hair floated around her as she looked in every direction she could. She used her weak limbs to push herself through the water as her search continued.

* * *

_Dammit__! Where is she?_ Sonic mumbled in his head. His fear of water evaporated when he found out Carrie jumped in. The salt water burned his eyes as he searched for the injured girl.

_Aha! _

* * *

_Aha! This must be it!_ Carrie smiled through her mask as she spotted something shiny. _Good thing that we're not too far in the ocean… that would be a tough swim._

She pushed her body toward a sunken boat. When she reached it, she discovered that the emerald was glistening through a crack of the boat. _Damn, __it's__ inside of the boat._

_"It looks like you have to lift it,"_ the little Carrie sang.

Carrie nodded in agreement as she drove her fingers (on her good hand) under the upside down boat. She placed her feet on the sandy ground and pulled. _Damn, I need my other hand but my wrist is broken! Maybe I should go back and tell them where it is._

Before she could swim away, something grabbed her leg. Her head snapped back and she saw an octopus twice her size, creeping out from under the boat. But this octopus was different… it had spikes all over and was black with red eyes.

_"HOLY __SHIT_" the small Carrie exclaimed.

_You're telling me!_ The older Carrie agreed as she struggled to get away from the creature. The creature snaked its way out and there it was! A spiky tentacle encircled a red emerald. Carrie kicked hard as she could but the creature kept dragging her closer. Her hand brushed the sandy ground but then felt a broken piece of wood that was partially buried beneath the ocean bottom. She quickly grabbed it and whacked the creature upside the head. It let go and then screeched angrily. It quickly wrapped its tentacle around Carrie's arms and torso. The spikes broke through Carrie's skin and blood seeped through the water. Carrie squirmed and struggled again but her efforts were useless. The creature pulled her toward his mouth where it revealed a sharp beak. Carrie shut her eyes and waited for her doom.

All of a sudden, she felt two strong arms reach around her and pull her back. Carrie couldn't see who was behind her but she knew who it was. After pulling, Sonic swam around Carrie and ran his feet brutally fast against the octopus. Sonic's feet actually broke the tentacle in two. Once they were free, they pushed themselves to get away. They could hear the creature screech in pain.

Carrie stopped when Sonic wasn't beside her. She turned around and noticed his face was desperate for air. She quickly swam back and put her oxygen mask over his face. After a few seconds, he returned the mask and signaled her to go back. She shook her head no and pointed back at the creature. They needed that emerald. Sonic clearly didn't understand what she was saying so she cupped his face and turned his head toward the creature.

Sonic's eyes widened when he saw emerald in the octopus's tentacle. He turned around and nodded but he still signaled her to go back. She shook her head in stubbornness and look around on the ocean floor. Sonic scowled but it quickly disappeared when the octopus started chasing after them. He turned back to Carrie and tried to get her attention. She was pulling something out of the sand when the creature crashed into them.

All the tentacles entangled themselves around Sonic and Carrie. They noticed that the creature dropped the emerald and gave them its undivided attention. Sonic couldn't move his legs at all… the only free limb was Carrie's broken wrist which gripping on to something new. The creature, again, pulled them toward its mouth to eat them. When they were a foot away from being dinner, Carrie drove a fishing spear into its mouth. The thing screeched again, but more loudly.

Carrie used too much force on her wrist and she grimaced from the throbbing pain. Sonic noticed this and grabbed the spear from her hand. He started attacking the octopus by stabbing it multiple times. After a few more stabs, it limped dead while its inky blood swarmed around it.

Carrie leant her mask to Sonic as he wanted air again. He nodded his thank you and grabbed the red emerald from the sandy ocean floor. They both swam to the surface and were greeted by a gorgeous sunset and worried calls.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO THINKING?"

"Are you guys alright?"

"You two are crazy!"

Sonic and Carrie ignored them as they pulled themselves out of the water and into the Suite.

"Carrie!" Chris kneeled in front of Carrie. "Why did you do that? Are you nuts?"

Carrie just shrugged as she cradled her casted wrist.

"Sonic," Knuckles crossed his arms. "I thought you couldn't swim."

"Instinct says hello, Knux." Sonic retorted as Amy hugged him. His face showed annoyance as he was being clung onto. "Amy, you can let go."

"Well," Tails walked up. "Did you guys' find it?"

"Carrie found it," Sonic answered as he smiled in Carrie's direction. He held up the emerald and smirked. "And here it is."

"Strange," Knuckles observed the emerald as he took it from Sonic. "It's darker… just like the Master Emerald."

* * *

Amy huffed in annoyance as she continued to fluff out her pillow. Cream and Cheese were in her room watching with concern.

"What's wrong, Amy," Cream timidly asked.

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" Amy growled as she continued to beat her pillow. "That Sonic is what's wrong!"

"What did he do?"

"He's always rescuing and hanging around Carrie!"

"But Miss. Carrie is nice, in my opinion."

"She is… but Sonic likes her." Amy looked down in defeat. "I try so hard to get Sonic's attention and wish so hard for him to care for me romantically. But he only sees me as a friend."

"But being Mr. Sonic's friend is good, Amy." Cream walked up to her and comforted.

"Yeah, but… I want something more. I love him so much and I would do anything for him to love me back."

"My mom always told me that you can't force someone to love you. You have to step back and let destiny take over."

"I know. But I feel so worthless." A tear began to roll down Amy's cheek. "And Carrie… I don't hate her, I'm just so jealous! There, I said it. I'm jealous."

"Why are you jealous of Miss. Carrie?" Cream tilted her head in curiosity.

"Because, Cream, Sonic likes her."

"I like her too. What's the big deal?"

"No, Sonic _likes_her romantically. But he will never admit it. I always thought he liked me back but was too proud to admit it. But after seeing how he is with Carrie… now I know for sure he doesn't like me that way."

"What are you going to do now?" Cream asked softly.

"I'm going to step back and let destiny take over."

* * *

"How's your wrist now?" Sonic asked as he replaced Carrie's cast with a new one (the old one got ruined from the water). They were both in the medical lab in the middle of the night. They both washed off the salt water; Carrie was now in her pajamas that Sonic got her.

"Better, thank you." She smiled shyly and looked down with a blush. "I didn't know you could make casts."

"I didn't until I watched your grandpa do it."

"Oh, I see." She continued to look down to avoid eye contact.

"Why did you do it?" Sonic lifted her chin so he can see her eyes. He reworded his question when he saw Carrie's confused face. "Why did you go after the emerald?"

"It's," Carrie thought about honestly answering but decided against it. "It's nothing." She sighed as she pulled away and started to clean up the cast-making mess.

"Nothing?" Sonic looked at her skeptically. "Carrie, you have wounds all over yourself and you jumped into a body of SALT water. And then you got MORE wounds from that octopus and you wouldn't leave until we got the emerald. What are you trying to do? And don't say it's nothing, because it's not. You're not telling me something that's on your mind."

"Why do you care so much?" Carrie turned around and looked at him softly. Her question wasn't harsh, it wasn't intended to be. "Why do you care for someone you hardly know?"

"You're my friend… and Chris's sister."

"But you didn't know that when you first found me. I threw rocks at you and held up a knife, and you still wanted to help." Carrie chuckled slightly at the end of her comment.

"Because," Sonic replied softly. "You were hurt... and alone. When I first saw you, it seemed like you had no one at that moment. I couldn't abandon you like that."

"Why?" Carrie looked down sadly. "You wouldn't be dragged into this mess if you had just walked away."

"I rather face a problem than leave someone behind. I'm a hero, remember?" Sonic grinned. "I answered your question, now you have to answer mine."

Carrie sighed. All Sonic wanted was the truth. And after all what he has done, he deserved to get whatever he wants. "Earlier today, I was in my room trying to draw. But I couldn't. After getting frustrated, I walked up to my window to try to clear my head." She paused as she sat down. Sonic was looking at her while listening intently. "When I was near my window, I couldn't help but feel pathetic."

Sonic gaze changed into concern but he let her continue. She kept her head down while explaining her story.

"I constantly need saving, I always need help… now, I can't do what I used to enjoy. But after thinking these thoughts, a voice came out of nowhere and agreed with me. The next thing I know, I'm facing myself as a kid. She started saying things that hurt me and then told me to kill myself. But I told her I couldn't because of Chris. She said more things and then I fought back. I mean, I tried to punch myself, Sonic."

Sonic didn't say anything but you could tell he was listening.

"After that, that's when she told me I need to fight back. I can only fight these 'spirits' by myself. And I can't do that if I let everyone around me help me every time I get a bruise."

"Carrie," Sonic started. "You have been alone for five years; you have dealt with pain for five years. You faced more cuts and bruises by yourself than anyone I know."

"But ever since I got here, I feel like everything is driven around me. And I don't want that. I appreciate the hospitality and everything, but I want everyone to live their lives."

"We are living our lives. You're just in it."

"But-"

"Carrie," Sonic brushed his hand across Carrie's cheek. "I understand you want to build up your strength to fight. But you have been alone for so long… let us help you. There's nothing wrong with help."

_Should I let him help?_

_"Damn straight, let him help!" _the younger Carrie wooted. "_He's a hunky hedgehog!"_

"Sonic?" Carrie blushed as he continued to rub her check softly.

"Yeah?" Sonic was in a daze as he looked into her emerald eyes.

"My alter ego is weird."


	10. AN:1

Hey,

It's BriMarie here! Please let me know what you think of the story and tell me if it's worth continuing.

I'm assuming you like it if you got this far.

Thanks a bunch! TTYL!


	11. Chapter 10

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 10 – Overcoming Darkness

Knux, Amy, and Tails were in the power vault, examining the emeralds.

"Knux, why is the chaos and master emerald dark?" Tails asked.

"I don't know," Knuckles answered as he further examined the chaos emerald. He set in down and rubbed his forehead with his spiked paw. "It doesn't make sense."

"Why don't you ask the Master Emerald?" Amy suggested. "I mean, can't you gain knowledge from it or something?"

Knuckles sighed while responding. "I can try." He walked over to the Master Emerald and raised both paws in the air. "Master Emerald! Please… Show me what's going on!"

All of a sudden, everything around Knuckles turned black. His head snapped in all directions but there was nothing. "Guys?" Knuckles called but the only reply he received was his echo. "What's going on?" Darkness was then replaced with the same flashes Carrie had the other night. Everywhere he turned, he saw laughing figures, barb wires, blood, blurred visions.

"You can make it stop, ya know." A girl's voice spoke from behind him.

Knuckles spun around and stared into the eyes of Carrie… a younger Carrie.

"Carrie?" Knuckles eyes widened. "You're… young."

"Long story. But again, if you command the flashes to stop… they'll stop." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Unless you like watching disturbing flashbacks."

Knuckles blinked and then held up his paws once again. "I command the images to STOP!" he bellowed. She was right, they did stop. Now, he and the young Carrie were surrounded by white walls.

"You didn't have to be that dramatic," she commented with a raised eyebrow.

"How am I supposed to know, you brat!" Knuckles's patience was wearing thin with all of this confusion. He didn't need a 9 to 10 year old girl's attitude.

"Sheesh, you have quite the temper," she smirked.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved at him carelessly. She cleared her throat and began to tell her story. "As you may know, I'm Carrie. Not the one you already know… I'm Carrie when she was younger."

"Are you from the past?"

"Like time-travel? Nah. Too sci-fi."

"Please explain what's going on before I punch something." Knuckles exasperated as he rubbed his forehead again.

"I'm a part of Carrie's personality, her alter-ego almost. But I was pushed to the back of her mind when she was kidnapped."

"Still confusing, but better. Moving on to other issues: what's happening to the emeralds?"

"Darkness has been trapped inside of the emeralds. 6 out of 7 are practically poisoned by evil."

"6 out of 7? What about the last one? What about the Master Emerald?"

"The Master Emerald is being affected by the darkness that is overcoming the chaos emeralds. The one that is not darkened is being held aside for someone else."

"Who?"

The young Carrie looked down with worry and fear. "Carrie."

"What? Why Carrie?" Knuckles furrowed his brow.

"Because the darkness that is taking over the chaos emeralds are the evil spirits of her captors."

"How did they suck into the emeralds?"

"Before Carrie escaped, Justin had a cop locate the chaos emeralds that were planted around the world. He was going to use the emeralds to gain power and torture innocents. But after Carrie escaped, he became infuriated and worried that she'll rat them out. So, Justin killed 5 of his gang members and then himself and then he locked their spirits into the emeralds. But their spirits are no longer human… they're creatures."

"Wait," Knuckles thought for a moment. "Sonic told me that an octopus creature attacked them when they found the chaos emerald!"

Carrie nodded with a sigh. "They may have killed the creature physically, but its spirit still remains in the emerald."

"What do we do?"

"You must gather the chaos emeralds and fight the monsters within them!"

"But doesn't that endanger Carrie?"

"Yes… but if you don't try to fight them… they will forever haunt Carrie. Either way, she's tortured. You might as well try to rid of them and free Carrie's pain."

"But what will happen to Carrie if we don't defeat them?"

The young Carrie's eyes darken with defeat. "Then… she will be turned into a creature and be forever trapped with Justin and his gang. They're goal has always been to ruin Carrie's life. But once they trap Carrie in the 7th emerald, her mind and spirit will be corrupted for eternity. Her pain and sorrow will turn into a blinding hatred and she will turn into them. With so much anger, she could haunt everyone in the world's minds to the point of suicide. Even Chris, you, and the others."

"But… no, she couldn't become evil! Why would she turn into something that she fears and hate?"

"Because with all that negativity, the spirits can make Carrie switch. The only thing that can stop hatred is to-" the girl waved her hand for him to think of the answer. She smiled when she saw the realization on his face.

"Introduce love… but she is loved. Her family loves her, her friends care for her…."

"It needs to be more than that," the small Carrie shook her head. "It needs to be true love, for the only romantic love that she has received was corrupted with lust and evil."

"So," Knuckles raised his eyebrow. "We find Carrie a boyfriend?"

"You make it sound so simple… it's not like you can go on and find her true love!" the girl rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"But wait!" Knuckles snapped his fingers. "There's obviously some chemistry going on between Carrie and Sonic! Maybe we can tell them to-"

"Geez, you think everything is going to fall into place." Carrie shook her head once again. "You can't force them to admit their feelings… they have to do it on their OWN. And with Carrie being nervous with intimacy and affection after what she has been through, it's hard for her heart let its guard down to let Sonic in. She may trust him and care for him, but it doesn't mean she'll let her heart fall for him completely. And by watching Sonic, he doesn't seem like the 'admitting his feeling' type. Besides, we don't know if they are 'destined' to be together. It may just be an infatuation!"

"Can't I tell them what's going on?"

"You can tell them everything but the whole 'Carrie turning into evil because she was deprived of true love and needs it to save the world' thing."

"Why can't I tell Carrie that she needs to find love? It may help her open up considering she knows she's endangering the world if she doesn't." Knuckles pointed out.

"No, she has to do this on her own. She and Sonic can't know anything about them falling for each other. True love comes on its own, not by putting it on a planner."

"Then, what can I do?" Knuckles tapped his foot. "I really don't like the idea of waiting around for two people to realize that they like each other. Not my style. Can't I lock them in the same room or something?"

The young Carrie thought for a moment and nodded. "If they don't find out that you did it on purpose. You would have to make it look like an accident."

"Good, because that's exactly what I'm going to do when I get back." Knuckles put his hands on his hips and smirked. "So, I can't tell them what's going on… but I can push them together. Can't I tell the others the situation?"

She thought for a moment again and then decided. "I guess… as long it doesn't get back to Carrie and Sonic."

"Well," Knuckles sighed in relief. "At least I don't have to do this on my own. I have no idea how to set two people up. But with the help of Chris and the others, we can think of a way for the two to spill."

The young Carrie grinned with amusement. "This is going to be entertaining."

Knuckles raised his brow at her. "You're taking this rather well… aren't you endangered with any of this?"

"Of course, I am!" she lifted her chin in the other direction. "For your information, I completely disappear if Carrie turns!" She looked back Knuckles and added with a smile. "I'm the positive side of Carrie. And for me to stay positive, I laugh at bad situations." She waved her hand to discard the subject. "But anywho, you better get back and find those emeralds."

"Right!" Knuckles nodded. He recited the plan out loud. "Find the chaos emeralds, release the evil spirits, fight the spirits, hook Sonic and Carrie up, and save the world."

With that, the little Carrie waved goodbye and returned Knuckles.

* * *

"Knuckles! Knuckles! Wake up you big lug!" a voice called.

Knuckles opened his eyes and saw a familiar pair of mascara eyes. His own eyes widened as he sat up abruptly and glared at the gorgeous bat that sat before him.

"Rouge!" he growled as he pointed at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Aw, is that any way to greet a lady?" Rouge pouted as she stood up from kneeling beside him. Her pout switched to a smirk as she watched Knuckles shake in rage.

"You're no lady!" Knuckles retorted as he too stood up. He quickly regretted the move when his head throbbed in pain. He grasped his head and started to mumble. "Ugh, my head! Are we still in the power vault?"

"No," Amy walked up beside him. "We're in the medical lab. We got worried when you collapsed when talking to the Master Emerald."

Knuckles looked at her and then looked around him. Everyone that was on the ship was there, including Rouge and Shadow. Wait, Shadow? Knuckles shook his head and pointed to the duo. "What are they doing here?"

Tails stepped up to answer. "They showed up about five minutes after you passed out. The engine on Rouge's ship got messed up and luckily for them, they found the Tornado Suite before they crashed."

"Engine got messed up?" Knuckles questioned. "How?"

"Well," Rouge put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "We found a chaos emerald and-"

"YOU FOUND ONE?!" Knuckles jumped at her and grabbed her shoulders. "What creature was there?"

Shadow looked at Knuckles suspiciously. "How did you know about the creature?"

Everyone's eyes were on Knuckles. Knuckles shook his head but repeated his question. "I'll tell you all what's going on if you tell me what the creature looked like."

"Well," Rouge perched her lips as she described what she remembered. "It looked like weird dinosaur bird… it had scales, large pointy beak, horns sticking out of wings… and eerie blue eyes. Blue like the emerald we found. It was most definitely not normal."

"Now," Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You got your answer, now you give us ours."

With a glare, Knuckles told his story about his confrontation of the young Carrie. He told him everything except for the true love part (because Carrie and Sonic were in the room). And the end of his story, everyone looked worried.

* * *

"So," Carrie spoke weakly. "We have to let them out and fight them?"

"Unless you want them to haunt you forever, Carrie," Chris answered.

"I don't know about this… I don't want any of you getting hurt because of my past." She looked down with insecurity.

"Carrie," Sonic comforted. "We're not going to let these assholes hurt you anymore."

"But-"

"No buts, Carrie," Knuckles crossed his arms. Everyone snapped their heads in his direction. When he got uncomfortable with the attention, he decided to put forth his plan. He sighed while rubbing his forehead. "Why don't you go to bed, Carrie? This is has been a long day for all of us, especially for you. You go to bed and Sonic, you go with her."

Sonic did a double-take. "W-what?"

"I mean watch her, you oaf," Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You know, in case those things come back and mess with her."

"Uh," Sonic looked confused. He and Carrie exchanged confused glances.

"That isn't necessary," Carrie held up her hands nervously. "I'll call if something is wrong."

"But," Knuckles re-butted quickly. "But the last time those spirits attacked you, they paralyzed you."

"I guess you're right," Carrie seemed uncomfortable.

"Of course I am," Knuckles crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Now, Carrie, go to bed. Sonic, go grab an extra mattress and keep gaurd."

"Mr. Knuckles," Cream spoke up softly. "Me, Rouge and Amy can watch her. It will be like a girl sleepover!" Cream smiled with delight.

"I'm not a let's-braid-each-other's-hair-sleepover type of gal, honey." Rouge crossed her arms as she perched her lips again.

"Yeah," Knuckles quickly jumped in. "And you and Amy shouldn't have to battle evil spirits… leave it to the pros. Leave it to Sonic!"

Everyone did a double take with that one.

_"__Hahahahaha__!!"_The young Carrie laughed hysterically in the older Carrie's mind.

_What's so funny?_ The older Carrie asked.

_"Oh, nothing…."_

"Carrie, Sonic!" Knuckles got fed up with all the questions. "Just GO!"

"Eep!" Carrie jumped with a fright as she ran out.

Sonic glared at Knuckles as he tapped his foot. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Knux, but you don't have to yell at us! You especially don't have to yell at Carrie." With that, Sonic ran out of the room to catch up with her.

Knuckles breathed out a raspberry after the two left. "About time…."

"Knuckles," Chris crossed his arms. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Why yes," Knuckles grinned. "Why yes, there is."

"Well," Amy scowled. "Spit it out!"

"I'll go get Sonic and Carrie," Tails said as he was about to walk out.

"No!" Knuckles held out his hand. "They can't know about this one, guys."

"Why not?" Chris asked.

"Well…."

* * *

"So, we have to get Sonic and Carrie together or else Carrie will turn evil and haunt the whole world?" Chris blinked at the weird story.

"Yeah, pretty much." Knuckles shrugged.

"But," Amy started while looking quite disappointed. "But you did say that there's a possibility that they're not meant for each other, right?"

"We think that is a small possibility." Knuckles closed his eyes. "But we have no other bachelor!"

"As long as she is introduced to love, I think it will work." Rouge said.

"Knuckles is right," Tails looked down while marinating in the new news. "Sonic definitely likes her and there's a strong chance that it will work."

Shadow huffed with annoyance. "I can't believe that our mission is to hook up the faker with a girl."

"Well," Rouge crossed her arms. "Well, believe it or not, Shaddy, if we don't do this than everyone is in trouble."

"Don't call me that."

"Well," Amy stood up straight. She had determination in her eyes as she smirked. "Let's stop stalling and start getting those two love birds together!"

"Let's leave them alone for tonight," Chris smiled confidently. "Tomorrow, we'll come up with something."

* * *

"Knuckles is sure acting strange," Sonic mumbled as he set up the air mattress.

He and Carrie were her room. While Carrie was looking out the window, Sonic was setting up the air mattress for him to sleep in. It was a clear night, the stars were shining bright, and the crescent moon hung in the sky mystically. Carrie was in a daze with its beauty, she didn't hear Sonic talking to her.

"Hello? Earth to Carrie, come in Carrie!" Sonic waved his hand in front of her face (well, he had to stretch to reach Carrie's line of sight). Sonic chuckled as she shook of her daze and blinked at him.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," she smiled apologetically.

"It's ok, Carrie. But I was asking you about your drawing." He smiled as he held up her sketchbook. She blushed when she saw the drawing of him. "When did you do this?"

"Oh," she continued to blush as she looked away. "I, I… I drew it after you made the new cast for me."

"Well," Sonic continued to smile as he again admired the work. It was a simple drawing of him running but the cross-hatching was pleasing to the eye. "I like it… you know, for someone who hasn't drawn in years, you sure do pick it back up quickly."

"Heh heh," she laughed nervously. "It's just a quick sketch, really. It's not really that good… I'm rather rusty. If you want, I can make you one… a better one. It may take a while, though."

Sonic smiled even more as he put the sketchbook back on her desk. "I would love one. But I have one request!" He held up his index finger while he winked playfully.

"What's that?" She blinked at him curiously.

"I want you to draw the both of us. I would ask you to draw all of us, but I don't want you to work too hard over a drawing for me."

"How about this," Carrie smiled as she leaned against the window. "I'll make you both. Then, you get two drawings. But I would have to practice."

"As long you can handle it," Sonic smiled as he plopped on his air mattress. "I'm down with anything."

"Great," Carrie smiled as she crawled in her own bed and snuggled underneath her comforters. "I'll get started ASAP." She turned off her lamp and the room was instantly replaced with darkness. Carrie got a little scared as she whimpered into her pillow.

"You ok, Carrie?" Sonic asked through the dark room.

"Y-yeah…."

Sonic purposely placed the air mattress next to Carrie's bed so he could check on her with ease. He crawled over and reached his arm across to place his hand on her shoulder. She flinched at first but relaxed when she saw Sonic through her adjusting eyes. The moonlight made the room glow with eerie softness. The dimming outline along Sonic's face gave him a mysterious appearance. Carrie completely relaxed when she looked into his vibrant green eyes that seemed to outshine everything in the room.

"Don't worry, Carrie," he whispered. "I'll protect you from the darkness."

"Because you're the hero," she whispered back with a smile.

He closed his eyes and shook his head softly. He smiled gently as he reopened his eyes and touched her cheek like he did before. "No, because you're my friend."

She smiled appreciably as her eyes became heavy. She felt Sonic's thumb caress her cheek until drifted off into a deep slumber.


	12. Chapter 11

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 11 – Lessons of Defense

The sunrise peered through the window and brushed its warmth across Sonic's face. The light hit his eyelids, forcing them to open to a new day. He sat up while stretching his arms and released a deep yawn. He blinked away his sleepiness as he lazily looked around Carrie's room. His tired eyes fell upon the sleeping teenage girl and faintly smiled at the sight.

Carrie was curled up on her side and was facing him. During her slumber, she subconsciously turned her pillow vertical and hugged it close to her chest like a teddy bear. The scene reminded Sonic of when he first found her… but she seemed more peaceful than hurt. Her covers slid down to her waist over the night, leaving her slightly shivering from the morning chill. He quietly crawled over to her bed and delicately pulled her blanket to her shoulders. Her shivering stopped and she smiled in her sleep.

Sonic crawled back over his bed and jumped onto the cold floor. He stretched again and walked over to her door so he could the bathroom across the hall. He waited for the door to open for it usually opened and closed automatically. Sonic raised an eyebrow when nothing happened. He shrugged it off and pushed the open button.

Again, nothing.

Sonic blinked and tried again.

Still nothing.

"What the?" he mumbled. He continuously pressed the button but no avail. He stepped back to stop himself from breaking the door. "Maybe there's a code… Carrie would know it." He looked back at the sleeping form and contemplated his situation. _Ok, I may need a code to get out and Carrie probably knows it… but she's sleeping. She hasn't had a good night's sleep in awhile so I __kinda__ don't __wanna__ disturb her. But __dammit__! I need to PEE!_

His brow furrowed at his dilemma. His bladder felt like it was going to burst so he crossed his legs and began hopping nervously. "Screw it, Carrie would want me to wake her up! Not have an accident on her floor!" With that, he zoomed next to her and shook her shoulder. "Carrie?"

She mumbled but remained asleep. Sonic shook her shoulder again but this time it was a little bit rougher. "CARRIE!"

"AHH!" Carrie screamed as she sat up abruptly. But instead of sitting up entirely, she banged her forehead on Sonic's forehead. Sonic stumbled back and fell as he grasped his hurting head. Carrie moaned in pain as she rubbed her forming bump. "Ow…."

"You're telling me," Sonic mumbled as he stood up.

Carrie shook the dizziness from her head and looked at Sonic with confusion. "Why did you wake me up like that? You scared me shitless."

"I know, I know! I'm sorry!" Sonic hopped up and down again as his bladder screamed at him. "Butyourdoorwon'topenandithinkyouneedacodetoopenitandithoughtyouwouldhavethecode!"

"….What?" Carrie blinked.

"Open door! PLEASE!" Sonic pleaded with big, watery eyes.

Carrie jumped out of her bed and tried to open her door. She hit the open button a couple of times and got really confused. "Um… my door won't open."

"Use you code!" Sonic hopped over next to her.

"Code? What code?" she blinked at him again. "I don't have a code to get in and out."

"Wha?" Sonic panicked as he continued to jump and down.

"Um, do you need to use the bathroom or something?"

"YES!" Sonic wailed as he paced back and forth.

"Then why won't you use the bathroom?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Because the bathroom is out THERE!" Sonic pointed toward the door.

"But I have one in here…."

"Wait, what?" Sonic looked around but saw nothing. "Where?"

"It's kinda hard to find… here," she walked over to the wall on her left. She walked up to the creased wall and viola, a sliding door opened and bathroom was revealed. Sonic practically heard a choir sing 'Hallelujah' as the bathroom shone with heavenly light. She moved to the side as Sonic zoomed past her and shut the door.

Carrie walked over to her window and gazed at the sunrise. She turned back around when the bathroom door opened, you could hear the toilet finish flushing and the sink turning off. He walked out with relief written all over his face.

"How come I don't have a bathroom?" Sonic asked himself.

"I thought we all had ones… at least that's what I heard from Chris." Carrie answered as she looked back outside. She stretched and yawned while saying her last sentence. "They're hard to find, so you probably didn't see it."

"Well, I better do a bathroom hunt when we get out of here," Sonic joked as he stood beside Carrie. "I wonder what's wrong with your door."

* * *

On the other side of the door, Knuckles was rolling on the ground trying hard not to laugh out loud. He put his paws over his mouth as he stifled a giggle. A screwdriver was on the floor, directly underneath the door's dissected control panel.

* * *

Carrie shrugged as she turned to him. "Not so sure, myself. But I'm sure Tails can get us out. But it's so early; you think we should wait an hour or so?"

"He should be up anyway… He's an early bird." Sonic walked over to the phone and pressed a number that would call Tails. He waited a moment until he got an answer.

"_Hello?"_

"Mornin, bro."

_"Hey, Sonic.__ Uh, what are you doing up this early?"_

"Well, I went to use the bathroom in the hall but Carrie's door won't open."

_"Really?__ Carrie has a bathroom, __ya__ know. Everyone has their own bathroom."_

"I know NOW." Sonic growled in annoyance.

_"Oh… I forgot to tell you that, huh?"_

"Why yes… yes you DID."

_"__Heh__heh__," Tails' voice scratched nervously. "Sorry, Sonic."_

"It's ok," Sonic waved the subject away. "Can you get us out?"

_"Oh sure, I'll be right there-OUCH!" There was a short pause__ before Tails quickly added. "Actually, it's going to take awhile!"_

"Huh? Why? It should only take you a minute." Sonic raised his brow in suspicion.

_"Well, there are lots of things to do on the ship! It may take awhile for me to get those done."_

"Why can't you let us out first AND THEN you go do the things?" Sonic tapped his foot in annoyance. "Actually, if you let us out, I'll be glad to help."

_"No!__ I mean, no.__ It's something that I can only do! Because… it's a policy, yes! A policy! And I can't let you out because… because…."_

"Because….?"

_"These things are the reasons why you are locked in!"_

"Oh really," Sonic's eye started to twitch. "So, what are you waiting for? GO FIX IT!"

With that, Sonic hung up the phone and pouted childishly. He stomped over to his bed and sat down with his arms crossed. Carrie just stared blankly at him.

* * *

Tails hung up his phone and glared at Rouge.

"You know," Tails continued his glare. "You didn't have to hit me."

Rouge just smirked devilishly and shrugged.

* * *

An hour has passed for Sonic and Carrie as they were locked in her room. Carrie went into her bathroom 5 minutes ago to take a shower while Sonic still moped in annoyance on his bed. He could hear the water from where he was as he glared out the window.

_Policy and something's wrong with the ship, ha! Yeah right… something is going on and they're not telling me._ Sonic grumbled inside of his head as he continued to listen to the shower running. _Tails was acting just as weird as Knuckles last night. Something is going on and I hate being left in the dark._

Sonic's ears perked up slightly when the shower turned off. He heard the curtain open and heard Carrie's soft steps stumble out of the shower. _The __wounds on her feet probably still hurts__… they were punctured pretty bad._ Sonic glared harder out the window. _They hurt her pretty bad all together… man, when I get my hands on those creatures…._

"Sonic?" Carrie called from the inside of her bathroom. She sounded kind of embarrassed.

"Yeah?" Sonic's glare disappeared as he turned his head toward the bathroom door.

"Um… can you grab a towel from the closet? I kinda forgot to bring it with me."

"Uh, sure. I'll grab one and leave it next to the door. I'll let you know when I'm turned around, k?"

"K, thank you!"

Sonic jumped off the bed and walked over to the closet. Fortunately for him, the towels were easy to find. He grabbed them and walked over to the bathroom.

On the other side of the door, Carrie stepped closer to the door knowing Sonic will be dropping off her towels any second. But they forgot something… the doors open automatically when it senses movement.

Just as Sonic went to sent down the towel, the sliding door flew open and there stood a very, VERY naked Carrie. Sonic stood there dumbfounded as he saw her bare curves for the first time. But what got to him was that her beautiful body was adorned in wounds. Her legs, torso, everything was covered in cuts, bruises and scrapes.

She stood there for a second, unsure of what just happened. _"Hey, Carrie?"_ the young Carrie sang in her mind. _"You do realize the door is open… and you're naked… in front of Sonic?"_

"Ah!" Carrie gasped at the embarrassing realization. A faint crimson blush filled her cheeks as she quickly attempted to cover herself with her arms. She felt exposed all over again as her mind played a flashback.

_FLASHBACK_

_A group of men stood around her and laughed. She stood in the middle of the__ tight__ circle__ naked and exposed to their wandering eyes. They reached out and touched her in ways she never wanted to be touched. They grip harshly in ways she never wanted to be grabbed. Tears trickled down her cheek as their perverted laughter continued._

_END FLASHBACK_

Carrie stood there scared as Sonic started to stutter an apology.

"I-I'm sorry, Carrie!" he quickly turned around while his face was beet red. He felt embarrassed when he saw her bare form, but he felt horrible when he saw the mortification in her eyes. "The door just opened and I…I mean… Shit, I'm sorry, Carrie!" He held out the towel toward her while still looking away. He waited patiently for Carrie to take the towel. A minute has passed and she didn't take the towel. He got worried and thought she was being haunted again. "Carrie? You ok?"

Nothing.

He breathed in slowly as he prepared himself to turn around. "Listen, I'm going to turn around." When he got no response, he carefully turned to her. Pain hit his heart as he saw Carrie kneeled on the ground, hugging herself as she curled down to the floor. You couldn't see her private areas but you could see her tears dripping onto the tiles below her.

Carrie kept her eyes tightly shut as she tried to rid the familiar images. She trembled from the slightly chilly room as she whimpered pleas of 'stop it' and 'please don'ts'. Her cries were very quiet but Sonic seemed to hear them as he walked tentatively up to her. She felt warmth consume her as he wrapped the big towel around her shoulders. Her eyes snapped opened as she looked up at him in surprise. She wasn't used to this… every time she was exposed; at least one man would touch and rape her. It was not as if she expected Sonic to do that but she almost forgot where she was. She was no longer with those men in that horrid warehouse; she was here with people who want to protect her. She was with Sonic who swore to protect her from the darkness because she was his friend.

He made sure that the towel was securely wrapped around her body. After he was finished, he looked into her eyes with sadness. Did she think he was going to hurt her? It sure seemed like it when coward down in fear and looked at him shocked when he did nothing. He brushed a strand of her drenched hair away from her face as he kneeled in front of her. She didn't flinch away when he touched her cheek; she just stared at him as if she didn't know he was there.

"Carrie," he whispered as he moved more strands of hair from her eyes. "I would never hurt you, let alone do something to you that you wouldn't allow. You know that, right?"

She numbly nodded as he sighed back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It wasn't you that I was scared of," she rasped out.

Sonic opened his eyes and looked into her emerald orbs. His look told her to continue.

"I-I…" she looked down with shame. "I just saw things again… I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong."

"Except for forgetting that the bathroom door is automatic," she weakly joked.

Sonic smiled and chuckled softly. "Well, we're both to blame there."

"Sonic, teach me." Carrie looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Teach you what?" Sonic asked as he absent-mindedly adjusted her towel to cover her more.

"How to fight… how to defend myself." She again looked down from Sonic's surprised face. "I don't want to be hurt again. I want to be able to prevent it… at least try to." She looked into his eyes that were filled with sympathy. "You're not always going to be around to save me… and I don't want to be guarded all the time. Can you teach me how to defend myself? At least the basics?"

Sonic nodded and smiled at her determination. "Ok, I'll give you the basics for now."

"Thank you," she smiled appreciably.

"Get dressed, your lesson starts now."

* * *

"Shouldn't we let them out already?" Chris asked worriedly. "They're probably getting hungry."

Everyone was in the command room. While Tails piloted the ship, everyone was watching the scanners in hopes of detecting the chaos emeralds.

"They're fine," Shadow huffed.

"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. "We'll let them out in a little bit."

"Till then," Rouge perked. "I think I'm gonna grab some grub. Care to join, Knuxxie?"

"In your dreams, you bratty bat." Knuckles growled as he kept his eyes on the scanner.

"Ok, then… I guess I'll go by myself… alone… where you don't know what I might do… what I might steal." Rouge walked away while smirking as she continued to tease the echidna.

Knuckles eyes widened as he ran after her. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THE EMERALDS, YOU BAT FROM HELL!"

Everyone shook their heads at the two.

"They're going to get married one day," Amy stated as she continued to work.

* * *

"Ok, Carrie, I'm top of you, ready to do my… rapist thing. Quick! What do you do?"

Sonic pinned Carrie to the ground, his hands gripped her wrists as his face was close to hers. She thought quickly and recited what she was told before.

"I knee your butt," she kneed his rear. "As you lose your balance, I move my arm that has less weight on it," she did just that. "Knee you again and throw you off!" With that, she kneed his butt and threw him off of her. She smiled apologetically as Sonic sat up while rubbing his butt.

"That was good, Carrie." Sonic smiled proudly.

"Thanks… but it may be different with a human being. They are not usually light like a hedgehog."

"Weight and sizes vary. That's why it will be difficult to get out of situations like that… especially if they're heavy."

"But I at least I have an idea of what to do," she stated as she held up her finger like a good scholar. She stood up and dusted herself off. She was wearing cargo khakis, a red faded shirt and black shoes.

"Good thinking, Carrie. Now," Sonic grinned as he jumped at her pushed her to the wall (but wasn't too rough). When she hit the wall, Sonic pulled her down to his level. He gripped both hands around her throat and held her there. He didn't grip hard to the point of choking but it was enough to startle her. "What do you think you should do?"

Carrie froze in terror.

"Carrie," Sonic started while still holding her. "I know you're scared. And being scared can make you freeze up like you are now. Instead of letting your emotions put you on hold, use your emotions to get you out."

Carrie thought for a moment and then tried to move Sonic's arms. He wouldn't budge, she tried other ways like pushing him… but he stayed put. She sighed as she looked at him, waiting for him to tell her what she should do.

"Give up?" Sonic asked. He continued when she nodded. "Ok, there are many ways to get out of this one. You could knee the guy down below. You could do the 'thumbs in the eyes' trick. But whatever you do, do not panic. You're body will freak out and will have a hard time reacting, and the result is death. If you stay calm, you're body will be able fight back more easily and efficiently. Got it?" She nodded. "Good. After you weaken your offender, it will be easier for you to push the bastard off of you. This is actually easier than the 'pinning to the ground' thing."

With that, he let go and helped Carrie up.

"We've been at this for an hour. Let's take a break," Sonic suggested. His stomach started to growl and he laughed nervously. "Heh, it's about lunch time and I'm hungry."

"I'm afraid I don't have anything in here to eat," Carrie said.

"Well, you weren't planning on getting locked up in here. Which reminds me, when are they going to get us out?" He walked up to the door and kicked it hard. "Man, if this was my door, I would've just broken it down. I hate staying in one spot for a long time."

After he said that, the door opened and reveal Chris. He smiled chirpily and waved at the two.

"Hey, guys!" Chris greeted as he moved aside to let them out. He hid a screwdriver in his pocket. "Sorry it took so long. I bet you two are hungry."

"Damn straight, we are!" Sonic crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Carrie just timidly nodded.

"Well," Chris started as they walked toward the kitchen. "Amy and Cream are making sub sandwiches for lunch."

"Chris?" Sonic walked beside him as he kept his arms crossed. "Did someone lock that door on purpose?"

"Huh?" Chris laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "What do you mean? Who would do that?"

"Ha!" Sonic stopped and pointed at Chris accusingly. "You're laughing nervously which means you know something that I don't!"

"What?" Chris continued to walk as he looked away. "I don't know what you are talking about, Sonic. C'mon, Carrie is probably hungry and you are too."

Carrie and Sonic watched Chris as he walked away. They exchanged confused looks before they followed the pre-teen boy.


	13. Chapter 12

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

Chapter 12 – Deja-Vu

"There! There's a chaos emerald!" Amy exclaimed from her command room chair.

Everyone except for Carrie and Chris were in command center. It was about 11am and it was storming outside. The raindrops that crashed onto the windshield made Tails' job rather difficult. The lightning and thunder caused the scanner to fizz a little bit but they were able to complete their task.

"Awesome! Where is it?" Sonic asked as he stood beside Amy. Amy expertly pushed random buttons as the screen before them rapidly found a specific location. After Amy was done, she intently read the scanner and got an answer.

"It seems to be located in a cave, on a mountain that is just a 50 miles ahead of us."

"Well," Rouge crossed her arms with a classy smirk. "It's kinda hard to see what's in front of us with that damn storm. And I'm not in the mood to crash into a large mountain, if you catch my drift."

"Rouge's right," Shadow hoarsely stated. "It's best to land somewhere and hike to the cave."

"Well, Tails made a mini-scanner yesterday." Amy informed. "Three of us should go while the rest stays."

"Me, Shadow and Tails will go," Sonic said and then turned to the red echidna. "Knuckles, you stay here and guard the ship."

"I have to babysit?" Knuckles groaned. "Why can't Tails stay and I go?"

"Because, you half-wit," Shadow responded roughly. "It's a mountain and Tails can fly."

"You two can't fly!" Knuckles growled in irritation. He began to march up to ebony hedgehog with fire burning in his eyes. "And I'm not a half-wit, you emo hedgehog!"

"BOYS!" Rouge intervened as she stepped in between the two. "As much as I like watching two men fight, I think we should get down to business."

"She's right," Tails nodded. "We have to get moving. Knuckles, you're strong enough to withstand intruders… it's best if you stay and protect the others."

"Fine," Knuckles moaned in annoyance. "I'll protect the others but I'm NOT protecting the BAT."

"It works for me," Sonic agreed. "Rouge can take care of herself. Now, enough stalling and let's get to that mountain."

"I'll make cookies for you guys!" Cream chirped joyously. "I'm sure you'll be hungry when you get back!"

"Chao, chao!" Cheese pounced with enthusiasm.

"King me," Chris said as he moved his checker piece across the board.

"Dammit," Carrie scowled. "I've never been good at this game."

Chris and Carrie were sitting at a coffee table in the lounge playing checkers. It was a tradition, when they were kids, to play checkers during a rainy day. The both of them were in their pajamas, just trying to have a chill out day and catch up some more.

"Well, you must be really rusty because I'm beating you by… a lot."

"It's not the rust, Chris," Carrie dead-panned. "I just suck at this game."

"Well," Chris shrugged. "The excuse was worth a shot."

"Appreciated."

"You're welcome." Chris said as he took another checker from Carrie.

Rolling rumble…Crack!

The siblings jumped at the sudden thunder bolt. But they jumped again when they felt the ship jolt, scattering their checkers game in the process. They exchanged glances and immediately got up to run to the door to see what was going on. But when they reached the exit, Knuckles walked in causing the two to halt.

"Hey, Knuckles," Chris greeted. "What's going on?"

"We're landing," Knuckles answered. "We found a chaos emerald located in the mountain. But the weather makes it hard to see where we're going so we're landing and hiking to get the emerald."

"Great! We'll go change!" Chris smiled as he was about to walk out.

"Oh no you don't!" Knuckles held out his paw and stopped him. "Sonic, Shadow and Tails are going. The rest of you are staying and I'm guarding. So, I want everyone in their rooms until they get back."

"Well, can me and Carrie chill in my room? Our checker game was kinda interrupted."

"That's fine," Knuckles nodded as he led the two out.

"Be careful, you guys!" Amy called out as the trio exited the Tornado Suite.

The suite landed a mile before the mountain which was surrounded by pine trees. They were able to find a clearing that was able to fit the Tornado Suite.

"We will!" Sonic reassured as he, Shadow and Tails ushered through the rain. They were all wearing green ponchos (with the protest of Shadow) so they wouldn't get sick on their hike. They trudged through the mud and bushes as the rain clashed down on them. They carried on like this for a few minutes until they reached the base of the mountain.

"I say we zoom up that bad boy and get this done and over with," Sonic said as he examined the tall mountain.

"Agreed," Shadow nodded as he turned to Tails. "Where's the emerald?"

Tails pulled out his scanner while blocking it from the freezing rain. "If we go straight up from here, we'll run into the cave."

"Alright, lil bro!" Sonic smiled mischievously. "Let's go!"

With that, Shadow and Sonic dashed up the mountain while Tails flew quickly behind them.

"Cookies, cookies, we love cookies!" Cream sang happily as she, Cheese, and Amy were in the kitchen. Amy was sitting at the table with a troubled face while Cream innocently mixed ingredients together. Cheese played in lose flour as Cream continue to sing. "Cookies, cookies, we love cookies!"

"What's going on in here?" Rouge asked casually as she entered.

"We're making chocolate chip cookies for Sonic, Shadow and Tails!" Cream answered brightly as she continued to mix in the chocolate chips.

"Chao!" Cheese agreed as he continued to roll around in flour. Amy just sighed in response.

Rouge quickly turned her attention to the pink hedgehog. She walked over and sat next to her with her arms crossed. "Sonic problems?" she guessed knowingly.

Amy looked at her with a slightly surprised face. "How did you know?"

"Well, everybody knows you have a huge thing for the blue-blur," Rouge stated as she leaned back into her chair while putting her hands behind her head. "And with this 'true love' thing with Carrie and Sonic… I can only imagine how much it eats away at you."

"It is eating me away," Amy stated sadly as she looked down again. "If Sonic and Carrie are meant for each other, then what happens to me? Who am I meant for?"

"You're young, kid… you got all the time in the world to find a hunk." Rouge smirked.

"Yeah, but I always wanted Sonic… I mean, I love him."

"You sure you love him?" Rouge asked. "Or is it an infatuation? Trust me, girl… there's a difference."

"How do you know the difference?" Amy asked as she looked up at the white bat.

"That's something you have to find out on your own."

"How do I find out?"

"I don't know," Rouge shrugged but then got an idea. "Why don't you date some other guys? You know, see what's out there besides Sonic."

"That's sounds like a realistic plan." Amy nodded in agreement. "I would have to look hard to find a decent guy."

"Never look too hard, hun," Rouge winked. "That's how you over look and miss opportunities."

"Thanks," Amy smiled and then smirked. "So, you hang out with Knuckles often?"

"I know where this is leading," Rouge perched her lips in annoyance. "We're rivals and rivals only."

"Sure, that's what they all say," Amy leaned back while crossing her arms with a knowing smirk.

"Well," Rouge got up and started walking away. "You're obviously feeling better so I'm going to head out."

"To see Knuckles? Gotcha," Amy winked. Rouge huffed as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh yeah," Amy smirked again. "I hear the church bells already."

"We love cookies!..."

"It's pretty dark in here," Tails commented in fear. They reached the cave that was located halfway up the mountain. It was a cold and dreary tunnel that led to darkness. Icy rocks surrounded

them as they walked through, the only light source they had was the scanner and the entrance of the cave.

"Keep your eyes open," Shadow warned. "Because if you get captured, I'm not saving your sorry asses."

"Aw, chucks!" Sonic snapped his fingers. "I was hoping to be your damsel, Shaddy!"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Guys!!" Tails bellowed with an echo. He regretted that action when he heard a low growl from ahead of them. Tails covered his mouth as the other two stood in their fighting stance.

"What the Hell was that?" Sonic whispered as another growl was heard. All three of them stood still as they watched a big figure move through the dark. The ground slightly shook after every step, a wretched smell of dead animal corpses seeped through the air. They could barely see the creature approach them as the stench deepened in their nostrils. Their breaths got caught in their throats when two beady, yellow eyes shot open.

The creature was only 10 feet away from them when they decided to take action. When the thing roared dangerously, Shadow and Sonic ran around it in opposite directions while Tails stood where he was. Tails shook in tremendous fear as the monster inched closer toward the light of his scanner. The staticy light hit the creature's features; it had a body and head of a bear but 8 legs like a spider. Its bristly fur stood up on end as it eyed its new prey. It moved its bear-face down to Tails nose as he realized how big it really was (really fucking big). It snarled its blood-stained, rotten teeth as it pulled back to pounce on the small fox.

But before it got a chance, Shadow and Sonic kicked it on both sides of its neck. The monster plopped to the ground after hearing a sickening crack. It laid there motionlessly with no breathing.

"Well," Sonic leaned on one leg and crossed his arms. "That was easy."

"Easy for you!" Tails glared. "That thing was going to make me its lunch! Couldn't you two move a little faster?"

"You're not lunch," Shadow looked around the creature for the emerald. "So, stop complaining. Now, where's the chaos emerald?"

"Um," Tails checked his scanner. "It should be with the creature."

"Well, it's nowhere to be seen."

"The scanner is detecting an emerald on the creature!"

"I sure as hell don't see it," Shadow crossed his arms.

All of a sudden, the monster's eyes snapped opened and growled. It roared as it swung its clawed leg at Shadow. Shadow was able to dodge but he wasn't quick enough as the claw scratched deeply against his left arm. As the leg roughly brushed past him, it stabbed itself in its own torso. Then the creature officially died.

"Wow!" Sonic eyes widened at Shadow's new wound. "You alright there, Shadow?"

"Yeah," Shadow moaned but his eyes caught something. As he held his wound, he stumbled toward the dead monster. He pulled the claw out of its body and dug his own hand into the puncture.

"Ew," Tails recoiled. "Shadow, don't touch it!"

"I have to if we want this," he stated as he pulled out a yellow chaos emerald. It oozed in a slimy, orange substance that was assumed to be the monster's blood.

"Awesome!" Sonic smirked.

"Yeah," Shadow dropped the emerald and stumbled back weakly. "Awesome."

"Shadow, you ok?"

"I don't feel good."

Tails quickly rushed to the dark hedgehog's side and examined his wound. Shadow's cut wasn't only gushing blood, but it was bubbling green.

"Oh man," Tails muttered. "I think that thing had venom in its claw."

"What are you saying?" Shadow could barely keep his eyes open.

"I'm saying we should get you to the Suite fast."

Sonic had Shadow's arm over his shoulder as he dragged him toward the Suite. Tails was holding their new chaos emerald as he followed closely behind.

"Stay with us, Shadow," Sonic said as heaved the dizzy hedgehog. "We're here."

"And something else is wrong," Tails mouth was agape as he saw Amy and Rouge standing outside of the entrance of the Tornado Suite. They all looked worried and exhausted as they walked up to the trio.

"What happened to you?" Rouge cocked her head as she stared at Shadow.

"We think he's been poisoned," Tails answered. "Why are you guys out here? Where are the others?"

The two looked down in despair. Rouge stepped forward. "Knuckles and Chris are in the medical lab… Knuckles was hit on the head pretty hard, he's out cold. And Chris… Chris was shot in the arm. Cream and Cheese are watching them as we speak."

"What!?" Sonic and Tails eyes practically bulged out.

"Are they ok?" Tails asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Amy still had her head down. "They'll be fine."

"Wait," Sonic head snapped in Rouge's direction. "Where's Carrie?"

"They took her, Sonic," Amy's eyes welled up with tears. "Eggman and some guy took her."


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Broken Down

(AN: I do not own Sonic but I do owe my own characters. I would like to give a special thanks for those who gave me imput on my story. Thanks a bunch, guys/girls!)

Chapter 13 – Broken Down

Chris sat in his bed and stared blankly out the window that was yet again being ambushed by raindrops. He hasn't spoken since he witnessed his older sister's kidnapping… again. All morning, Chris's head was dizzy from the physical pain and being emotionally numb.

_It was just like last time…_

_FLASHBACK_

"_King me," Carrie chirped. She was still losing the checkers game but she was happy that she got across the board. As Chris was about to do what was he told, he saw a green mist seeping under the door._

"_Carrie?" Chris choked out._

"_What?" Carrie turned to see what he was looking at. Her face paled as she saw the familiar gas swarming into the room. She felt her heartbeat quicken and pump hard through her veins as she was beginning to panic. "No…"_

"_We gotta get out of here!" Chris exclaimed as he sat up and dragged Carrie to the window. Knowing the windows don't open, he picked up a chair and was about to throw it through the glass. But he was interrupted as he started to cough violently from the gas. This gas was stronger than before, his eyes burned harshly as the mist stung his throat. Carrie was coughing to the point of gagging from the bitter, sour taste. _

_The door burst open to reveal a man in black and in a gas mask. He held a gun in one hand and rope in the other._

"_Carrie!" he barked through his protective mask. Carrie couldn't tell who he was with his muffled voice. "You will come with me!"_

"_She's not going anywhere!" Chris coughed out bravely as he stood in front of his sister protectively. Chris could've sworn his heart was going to pop out of his chest as he stood up to the dangerous intruder. _

"_Chris, no," Carrie whispered as she froze in fear._

"_They're not going to take you again!" _

"_Wanna bet?" The man corked as he aimed his gun at Chris's chest._

"_NO!" Carrie screamed as she pulled Chris to the side when the man fired his gun. Instead of the bullet hitting Chris's chest, it went into his left arm. He wailed in pain as he collapsed on the floor. Blood pulsed out as throbbing pain shot through his weakened limb. His body felt weak and useless because of the instant blood loss. Carrie went to kneel next to him but the man grabbed her hair and threw her across the room. After she hit the wall, Carrie cried in hideous pain as the man shot her thighs with his gun._

"_Please," Chris begged. "Don't take her!"_

"_Sorry, kid," the man shrugged as he heaved Carrie over his shoulder. She kicked her knees against his chest but her efforts were useless because of her weakened legs._

"_I won't let you take her! Not again!" Chris got up, despite of the throbbing pain, and lunged at the intruder but was only greeted with a backhand._

"_CHRIS!" was all he heard when he flew to the wall like a rag doll. Chris was instantly knocked out from the impact as he continued to hear his sister's pleas._

_END FLASHBACK_

"Mr. Chris?" Cream called as she entered Chris's room. She carried a tray full of small sandwiches and milk. Chris turned around to face her but said nothing. "You should eat, Mr. Chris. Mom always told me to remember to eat when I'm not feeling good. I know you're not feeling good and you haven't eaten in two days. You should eat."

Chris shook his head and hoarsely whispered. "I'm not hungry, Cream. But thank you anyway."

"But-"

"Please go away." Chris turned back to his window to watch the raindrops wisp against the glass.

"Ok," Cream nodded with a small tear. She felt as if her friendship has been rejected and that hurt her deeply.

"Poor, Mr. Chris," Cream sat glumly in the command center while Tails piloted quietly. "I hope I didn't upset him."

"I'm sure you didn't," Tails smiled weakly as he attempted to cheer up the worried rabbit. "He's just sad because Carrie was kidnapped again."

"I know but I want to help."

"You are helping, Cream. Just be patient, he'll come around."

"I guess you're right, Tails," she smiled softly. "I wonder how Shadow and Knuckles are doing…."

Shadow coughed as he awoke from his uncomfortable slumber. His vision was blurred and his head spun as he slowly opened his eyes. He moaned as he sat up but was only greeted with a headache and nausea. He felt a pair of soft hands gently push him back down.

"You shouldn't move too much, Shadow," Amy's voice said caringly.

"Amy?" Shadow's vision cleared up as the pink hedgehog came into his view. He lay back down and checked his surroundings weakly. "What, what happened? Why do I feel like shit?"

"You were poisoned," she replied as she walked across the room to retrieve a glass of water for the sick hedgehog. "The monster that you, Sonic and Tails were fighting had venom in his claws and the thing scratched you. Luckily, there wasn't enough to make it fatal… but there was enough to make you sick."

"How long was I out?" he asked as Amy came back with the water. He took her offer and sipped the cool liquid.

"Two days… since Carrie's kidnap."

Shadow choked on his water with her last words. Shadow looked at her with shock and Amy continued the story.

"Rouge found Knuckles outside knocked out… from what we understand, Eggman-"

"Eggman?" Shadow questioned as Amy nodded.

"Yes, Eggman was fighting Knuckles outside and he hit Knuckles' head pretty hard. Before Rouge could do anything, tear-gas filled the entire ship and she couldn't see or do anything. None of us could do anything. The next we know, Carrie was being carried away by a man in black to Eggman's ship and they took off. The gas cleared up before you guys got here."

"Hmmm," Shadow took in her story as he stared at his blanket. Shadow didn't care much for Carrie but wouldn't want her to get hurt. And knowing she could taint the world made him nervous. Shadow was tainted as it is because Maria, he didn't need anymore haunting visions. He looked back up at Amy and raised his eyebrow. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Someone had to take care of you," Amy got defensive as she crossed her arms. "I had to clean and change your bandages on that nasty wound. That thing was gross."

Shadow looked at his arm and peeked through the side of the bandage. It was no longer bubbling; it looked like it was healing like a normal cut. It was a little sore, but it was nothing compared to the pain he had experienced before. "Looks fine to me."

"That's because I took care of it," Amy smirked with cockiness.

"Thank you."

Amy did a double-take at what he just said. She felt like she just had a ton of bricks thrown at her. She looked at him with shock and stuttered, "W-what?"

"I said thank you… ever heard of thanking before?" Shadow raised his eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah! Of course!" Amy scratched the back of her head. "I just didn't expect you saying it…."

"Well, I did." He looked away and sipped his water.

"You're welcome, Shadow," she said soft and sweetly. She leaned forward and put her hand on his forehead. Shadow blushed from the contact as butterflies swarmed in his empty stomach. He could smell her strawberry perfume as her green eyes examined him. He attempted to back away but Amy just moved closer. "Stop moving, Shadow… I'm just checking your temp." She touched his forehead, ears and cheek gingerly and finally smiled meekly. Shadow had a dazed look on his face as she pulled away. "You have a fever again… I'm going to get some meds."

"Hold still, you lug," Rouge growled as she tried to put an ice-pack on Knuckles' head. For the past hour, she had been trying to care of the stubborn echidna but he was being, well… stubborn.

"I don't need your hel-ugh," Knuckles stopped as he felt his stomach turn. Rouge, out of instinct, place a bucket in front of him before he threw up. As he tossed his cookies, Rouge decided to scold him.

"Listen, knuckle-head," Rouge started as Knuckles continued to throw up. "You have a concussion and I was ordered to help you out. So, stop being a pussy and just take it like a bitch."

"Why," Knuckles coughed out and he kept his face buried in the bucket. The smell of his bile made him even sick to his stomach. He was breathing heavily as he tried to calm down his nausea. "Why are you helping me? Don't you hate me?"

"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer," she said with a toothy smile.

"But you never let me get close so I guess you're a friend in a fucked up way." He looked up and saw Rouge offering a small, wet hand towel to clean his face. He smirked as he took it and rubbed his face down. "Am I right?"

"I don't know anymore," Rouge said out loud. She blushed deeply at her mistake and turned around to avoid his surprised expression.

Sonic was sitting in Carrie's desk looking at her drawings. Guilt surged through his veins as he continued to sit in her chair. The raindrops outside tattered against the window as he flipped the lose papers carefully. For some reason, some of Carrie's drawings were taken out of her sketchbook.

"I should've stayed… I should've got back sooner… I should've done something!" Sonic growled to himself as he set down a drawing of a young Carrie in a sundress. "And now Eggman's involved!" He put his head on the desk in defeat. His heart ached as well as his tired eyes. Insomnia seems to be favoring him lately due to its nightly visits. "I don't know what to do."

"I'll tell you what to do!" a girl's voice boomed out of nowhere. Sonic sat up and looked around but only saw an empty room.

_That voice kind of sounded like Carrie's…_

"That's because I am Carrie, you idiot!" the voice boomed again but this time, it was in front of him. But the only thing that was in front of him was the drawing of Carrie as a girl.

"Wait a minute," Sonic's eyes widened at the realization. "It's you!"

The Carrie-drawing moved on the ivory paper as if she was alive and there. Her sketchy appearance gave her a unique animation look. She crossed her arms and scowled in annoyance. "Yeah, it's me. Now, listen up! Obviously, my older-self has been kidnapped yet again… and she's breaking down."

"What do you mean?" Sonic sat closer as he watched the girl pace back and forth across the page.

"I mean, she's starting to give up! We have to give her some kind of hope." She threw her hands up in the air and she continued to pace back and forth. She stopped as if a plan popped up in her head. She quickly looked up at him with hope burning through her dark, sketch eyes. "Do you want to see her?"

"I'll do anything to see her," Sonic exclaimed softly as he leaned in. The thought of seeing Carrie made his heart ache for reassurance.

"Grab a blank piece of paper and black pencil."

Sonic obeyed without question. He looked at the small girl with determination in his vibrant, green eyes.

"Put the color pencil up to the paper as if you're going to draw something. Close your eyes and I'll do the rest."

Sonic did what he was told. As he closed his eyes, he felt his hand rapidly move across the paper. He had to admit, it felt weird not having control over his own hand. All of a sudden his hand stopped and began to tingle from being used.

"Open your eyes," she said softly.

He did and was surprised to see the color pencil red instead of black. He looked down at the page and his heart broke. There was Carrie, tied up and naked on the ground. She was moving just like the young Carrie but couldn't do much due to her restraints. Her body was sketched in black and blood was sketched in red… and there was a lot of red marked. She was sobbing uncontrollably as blood dripped down her face and all over her body. You could see her new wounds as they leaked with crimson tears. Her hands were tied in front of her so she was covering her bruised chest. Her feet weren't tied but she couldn't walk due the massive wounds on her thighs. He tenderly touched her hair through the paper with his index finger and gently stroked her long locks. It was strange, he felt paper but he also felt strands of hair. He was surprised when she reacted to the touch. She stopped sobbing and looked around with confusion etched into her face.

"Carrie," he called softly. "Carrie, can you hear me?"

He assumed she heard him because she froze for a second and nodded. His hand tightened into a fist and anger boiled in his veins. How could they do this to her? She looks so miserable. He calmed his breathing down and focused again on Carrie.

"I'm coming for you, Carrie," Sonic stated confidently but yet it was full of grief. "I'm coming for you… do you know where you are?"

She looked down sadly and shook her head.

"Do you know where you're headed?"

She paused and thought for a moment. She dabbed her wounds with two fingers and used her blood as ink. She winced from her own stinging contact but she had to communicate with him somehow. She wrote on the ground with difficulty because her hands trembled with both pain and fear.

Warehouse. That's what she wrote on the ground. It took a moment for Sonic to read it because it was upside down and backwards.

"Warehouse? Which warehouse?" Sonic asked in desperation. He would meet up with these bastards anywhere and give them a piece of his mind. He had a hard time controlling his anger when Carrie stopped moving. He pounded his fist against the desk as she became a drawing again.

"Calm down there, cowboy," the girl waved her hands to get his attention. He faced her with a icy stare. "Hey, don't look at me in that tone of voice."

Sonic didn't even crack a smile at what she said. Frustration, anger and grief pounded through his head and he wasn't a happy camper. But then he realized he got to see Carrie… he reasoned with himself that the battered beauty was indeed alive and has a chance to be saved.

"What can I do?" Sonic asked himself. His beating heart slowed as he continued to calm himself and come up with a plan.

"You already did something," the young Carrie smiled softly.

"Oh?" Sonic snapped. "What did I do? I just found out she's heading to a warehouse but I don't know which one."

"You gave her hope, Sonic," she ignored his harsh tone and looked up at him. "She was about to give up, but her hearing your voice gave her hope."

"Saving her will give her more hope!"

"You will save her… she told you where she was heading."

"A warehouse. That narrows it down." He stated sarcastically.

"Damn, you're denser than the echidna!" she rolled her eyes. "In her world, there is only one warehouse."

Sonic stared blankly at her but then a wave of realization hit him.

"The warehouse… the one she was in for five years!" Sonic snapped his fingers. He turned back to the young Carrie but only to see her erased off the paper. Sonic knew she was ok and smiled gratefully at the now blank paper. "Thank you."

"So, what's the plan?" Tails asked as the entire crew sat in the command center.

"We have to save Carrie," Sonic answered with determination.

"Yes, we do," Shadow leaned against the wall, hoping to hide his weakened state. "But we also need those Chaos Emeralds before Eggman gets them."

"What do we do?" Amy asked out loud. Her eyes glossed with despair from the current dilemma. "We really have to get those Chaos Emeralds before something bad really happens… but we can't just leave Carrie hanging."

"There's only one thing we can do," Rouge stepped forward while swaying her curvy hips. She smiled cockily as everyone turned to her. "We split up."

"That could work," Tails nodded in agreement. Poor Tails, he's been piloting for hours on end and is worried sick about all of his friends. You could see dark rings peek out from under his golden fur as he still contemplated the plan.

"Sounds good," Sonic's lips were in a straight line as he stayed dead serious. "You guys look for the emeralds… I'm going to get Carrie."

"I want to come with you, Sonic," Chris's raspy voice spoke up after being so quiet. Chris looked extremely exhausted… his hair was more of a mess than usual, his eyes were dark and empty, and his skin was pale from the lack of nutrition.

"I usually would let you, buddy, but you need to eat and rest." Sonic braced himself as he knew Chris would get defensive.

"I don't need it… I want to help Carrie!" Chris's eyes darkened as he glared at Sonic.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you," Sonic breathed slowly as he tried to calm the young teen.

"What the Hell, Sonic!"

"He's right, Chris," Shadow stood up warily and walked over to the troubled teen. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and looked at him with tough-love. "You're not healthy right now… and in order to save your sister, we need someone with energy. Besides, Sonic can get to her quicker if he didn't have anyone tagging along."

Chris kept his glare on Shadow and huffed before he stomped out of the room.

It's been five long, agonizing minutes since Sonic's voice disappeared. A void filled Carrie's chest knowing she was alone once again but yet, she had hope. She had more hope now regardless of the past hours.

All she remembers is being taken away from a wounded Chris and carried aboard a strange ship. There, she met Eggman; this pundy but yet tall man with an insane mustache. She didn't know what to think of him… he was involved with her kidnapping but he defended her against that crooked cop.

_FLASHBACK_

_Carrie landed on the floor with a deep thump. She couldn't move much because of the pain wracking her frail body. Her head spun from the blood loss leaving her feeling slightly nauseas. But she was also nauseas from the leftover taste of that sour tear gas; her throat felt like there was a spiky ball stuck in it. But all that vanished when the man in black pulled off his mask and revealed his identity._

_The cop. The cop that was working for Justin._

_Ignoring the sharp pains through her bullet wounds, she scooted back as much as she could. Her chest felt as if it was going to cave in when she felt a wall cramping against her back with its cold steel. Her breathing became hasty when the cop stomped toward her, picked her up with a harsh grip and pinned her against the wall. He pressed his muscled body against her weak one. But since he was taller than her, her feet dangled above the floor as she felt him harden against her pelvic area. Brown strands of hair fell across his lust filled, brown eyes. He licked his lips as he caressed her side with his calloused hand. His other hand cupped her tear-stained face as he leaned in and licked her lips like a stray cat would with milk. _

'_No' was said when she bit his lower lip hard. He pulled his face away with an agitated growl. Carrie could taste copper in her mouth, she didn't realize she bit him that hard. The cop glared dangerously at the ballsy girl. There was no way in Hell he was going to let her get away with that. With the hand that cupped her face, he wrapped his fingers tightly around her neck. _

_Carrie started to panic when she felt the oxygen flow leave her lungs. She attempted to wiggle her way out but her body was too much in shock to do anything useful. Then she remembered Sonic's words… stay calm. _

_With the trustworthy hedgehog's voice running through her mind… she completely relaxed her body and thought about the situation. Sharp, painful tingles began course through her limps as she tried to come up with a solution. The cop noticed her relaxed, limp form and glared cautiously at her. He was expecting something but he wasn't expecting her kicking her knee against his hardened friend. He roared from the numbing pain as he dropped the girl. When she hit the ground, she instantly coughed uncontrollably. The man quickly got over his pain and towered over the coughing girl._

"_You little bitch," was all he said when he again picked her up and threw her across the opposite wall. The cold steel thwacked against her skull and her body went temporarily paralyzed. She slid down and she felt blood leak down her face. Her vision doubled as she faintly saw the man stomp toward her. He knelt in front of her and gripped her bloody thighs harshly. With one pull, he dragged her under him and straddled the poor girl. He leaned his face into her dazed one and snarled, "For that, I'm going to make it more painful for you."_

_With that, he ripped off her clothes. She couldn't do anything because her body shut down from the constant abuse. She had no emotion on her face, just a sheer, blank daze…as if she had given up on saving herself. When she felt the steel room's breeze against her sore skin, another man barged into the room._

"_What in the names of Mobius are you doing, Tim?" he questioned incredulously. _

"_What does it look like, Eggman?" Tim cocked his eyebrow at the round man that stood in the doorway. "And what the Hell is Mobius?"_

"_That is not important," Eggman glared as he crossed his arms. "Listen, I'm all about torture and beating up the victim. But I will not agree with this classless act."_

"_Then don't do it," Tim shrugged as he was about to unzip himself. Carrie just held still (like she had a choice) and listened to Eggman's feet tap across the floor._

"_Meaning," Eggman's voice grunted as he peeled Tim off of Carrie and threw him against the wall. "Meaning as long you are on my ship and around my presence, you will not rape her. Beat her up beyond recognition is ok but I will not allow rape. Have more class, man." He paused as he led Tim out of steel room. "I will get my bots to tie Carrie up on the way to the warehouse… but in the mean time, we have things to discuss."_

_Carrie's senses shut down when she heard the door close and lock. With that, everything went black._

_END FLASHBACK_

Carrie ran her fingers through her hair, remembering Sonic's mysterious touch. It felt like wind brushing through her hair but she knew it wasn't the wind. She closed her eyes as she quietly begged for him to come back. A small, cool tear tickled down her cheek as she lay down on her side. She curled up in attempts to get warm but there was no luck. Goosebumps danced across her flesh as she shivered against the metal floor.

Before she past out again, she couldn't help but worry about her younger brother.

"Please, Sonic," she whispered into the metallic room. "Please keep Chris safe."

"… please keep Chris safe." A hushed whisper filled his blue ears.

"I will, Carrie," Sonic said as he stood before his window. "I promise."


	15. Chapter 14

(DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of their characters and props. But I do own my OCs.)

I know, I know… it's been FOREVER since I last updated. Sorry to whomever that actually enjoys this story. School has been CRAZY! Well, I just graduated from Media Arts and Animation, and now I'm moving onto Visual Effects and Motion Graphics.  But it won't be AS chaotic as this past quarter, so hopefully I will finish this bad boy. In the meantime, keep reading (if you want… I'm not one to force people into anything). And special thanks to those who reviewed and gave me input… and thanks to whomever is still reading this story. Well, here you go!

Chapter 14

Blue Rays

Chris, the troubled teen, paced back and forth in his disarrayed room. After Sonic told him he wasn't able to help find Carrie, the young brother threw a tantrum behind his closed doors. His pillows were ripped apart while its guts spewed across the floor. A few breakable items such as mirrors, cups, and picture frames were scattered in sharp pieces. His blankets were ripped in half in attempt to satisfy his angry hunger. When his destructive wave settled, he started pacing to rethink the situation.

He was hurt… physically and emotionally.

He proved himself that he was not mentally stable to save his already unstable older sister by the looks of his bedroom.

….He couldn't save his sister.

_Sonic is right… everyone is right._

Chris clasped onto the slightly hazardous floor in a defeated heap as he repeated those words in his dizzy head.

_Sonic is right… everyone is right. Sonic is right… everyone is right. Sonic is right… everyone is right._

Burning tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes and traveled into his messy hair, soaking it with sorrow and pity. He was currently lying on his back, hoping his upset heart would slow down to a steady beat… but it wouldn't. He was too distraught to officially reach that goal. He continued to drown in his bucket full of emotions as he stared intensely at the dead ceiling.

_What can I do?... Nothing. I can't do shit. I'm all alone again. _

He rolled to his side like a zoned out zombie. Random shards of glass and cotton went in and out focus in his line of vision. He wasn't really staring at anything… he was staring at nothing in particular. He didn't attempt to move his face when he felt a shard digging into his tear-stained cheek. He was also lying on his injured shoulder… the powerful pain didn't have an effect of him either.

_This pain is nothing compared to what Carrie might be going through._ Chris glared in determination. _I have to show that I can go through just as much pain and come out alright… it's the only way to prove that I can help my sister._

Chris pulls out his scarred hand to concentrate on it.

_I want to know what she is going through… so I can share my sister's pain._

The current trip that flashed across her drug induced eyes sent her to a world she wished she was never in. How did she get like this? _When_ did she get like this? It felt as if she's been like this forever….

She couldn't add up with what was going on. Confusion… the more she felt it, the more everything spun. Colors, random objects such as socks and "My Little Ponies" danced across the invisible surface that was apparently still there. She would occasionally see a small child… a girl, specifically. The girl would call out to her, almost trying to bring her away from this twisted, uncomfortable fantasy. Flashes of blue would shine above her like a sun… basking her in a protective warmth. Nothing would go near her if she stayed under the blue rays… but it didn't stop things from dancing and taunting her from a distance. And for some reason, it freaked her out.

Teddy bears would sing a haunted melody while tap dancing. Colored pencils would scrape against random surfaces, dissecting everything just to have maggots crawl out and sing along. Was that Lacrymosa by Mozart? How did she know Lacrymosa and Mozart if she can't even remember her name? Shadows in the background laughed… like an audience at a comedy show. It sounds like a herd of horses nay-ing lowly at once. They're laughing at her forgetfulness and the show before them.

_Can't blame them_…. She can't remember her life, not even her name.

What was her name again? Something with a C….

She, herself, couldn't figure out what was going on. But anyone on outside world will know exactly what was wrong with her.

"My, my," a tall robot, that happened to be Eggman's assistant, shook his head in worry. "That officer sure did give her a lot of those pills."

"Yes," the pudgier robot agreed. "I hope she will be ok. She seems very nice."

The two robots stood there at the doorway, shedding some light in the flickering room. The door was wide open, but they weren't worried about the girl escaping. She was too drugged up to realize her path to freedom. They felt sorry for her; with all the blood loss and the pills that was forced upon her, she was looking miserable. She was shivering but sweating insanely. Her skin looked cement gray and also looked as if it was being sucked into her bones… like an old, wet white sponge that was twisted to drain itself. Her hair was no longer a crisp orange color; it was splotchy with sweat and grease. Strands of hair would stick to her flesh like leashes.

Overall, she looked like shit.

"I really think we should get her looked at… she may die this way," the pudgy robot said.

"She's not going to die." Eggman's voice made the two robots jump. They spun around and gaped in fear at their large boss. "Relax, you're not in trouble. I, myself, wanted to see the girl."

Bokkun, the mischievous messenger, peeked out from behind Eggman and yet again, the robots were startled by the sudden appearance. "Who's that?" Bokkun asked with curiosity.

"That's Carrie Thorndyke… Chris Thorndyke's older sister." Eggman replied while stepping closer to the delusional girl. He ignored her attempt of trying to keep away from him as he stared down at her.

"Why is she here?" Bokkun zoomed around and attempts to look at Carrie from different angles. But he jumped back when Carrie shrunk further into her wall abruptly. "Why is she sweaty and gross? And she looks awfully scared… I'm not that scary looking, am I?" Bokkun looked up at the professor with watery eyes.

Eggman just stood there like a stone, examining and analyzing the girl before him. The room was deafly quiet as the two stared each other down. The silence was so strong; it started to pound on everyone's ears (for those who had ears).

"Professor," the timid tall robot stepped forward. "Are you sure she'll be ok? I know we're evil and all, but we're not cruel, are we?"

Eggman didn't respond to any of his assistants' questions. He stood there like a statue, staring hard and unmoving at the more frightened girl. Her once green eyes were now temporarily glazed with a snowy slate hue… a side effect from the pills, no doubt. _I wonder what she is seeing…._

"Bl--…. Sss," Carrie finally mumbled.

Eggman kept his composure but he was curious on what she was trying to communicate to him. She was staring right at him… right through his glasses as if they weren't there. His gut turned at the thought of what this girl may do to the world in matter days, maybe hours. He was promised security but he knows too much about backstabbing to fully trust anyone. Should he go on with this? Fuck, he didn't care about anyone else's safety but his own… but if there is a chance that he is endangered, he would take action. Every man for himself… but if he saved himself, he would possibly save the world. He wants to conquer the world, not protect it. _Ha, evil-mastermind defending the world… that's quite contradicting, don't you think?_ "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that… What were you trying to say?" he asked casually.

"Blue rays," she whispered out as she no longer looked scared, but dazed.

"Blue rays? Sounds like a certain hedgehog we know. What about him?"

Bokkun and the robots stared in wonderment as their doctor carried a seemingly friendly conversation their 'enemy'.

"Non-home… coming… Stop."

"I take it your non-home is the warehouse we are heading to. Does Sonic know that we are going to the warehouse?"

She nods as she lies down on her side. "Stay in the blue rays, you won't be turned." She began to hug herself closely with her casted arm… but it seemed like she was holding something with her good hand to her chest. The professor knew nothing was there; it was just her own imagination.

"Professor!" the tall robot exclaimed. "That pesky Sonic knows our destination! We should change route or something!"

"No." Eggman turned around and began to head out of the room. "We speak of this to no one. And if I find out that a word was spoken, I will use you for scraps. And Bokkun, you'll be dinner."

With that, Eggman walked out of the flickering room with echoing footsteps.

"Stay with me, I won't let anything hurt you," a familiar voice whispered gently behind her. The confident tone of this voice soothed her as she held its hand close to her. It was behind her, wrapping its arms around her to keep her warm. The blue haze kept whispering sweet nothings in her ear, in attempt to put her sleep. She snuggled back into his embrace as her eyes drooped down.

Sonic sped through everything; roads, forests, buildings, traffic jams, etc.

It hasn't even been an hour since he split up from his team to retrieve his friend, and he felt as if he wasn't getting there fast enough. He already broke the sound barrier a while ago, but it was like additional lands were being plopped in front of him to run across. He had no time for additional running; he needed to get to Carrie.

He inhaled the welcoming wind that crashed against his face as he continued to run. The strong breeze snaked around him and brushed through his quills as he attempted to calm himself.

_Chill out Sonic,_ he said to himself in his mind. _You get sloppy when you don't keep your cool._

Shadow slept again to regain his strength. Aside his bed, Amy sat in the guest chair reading her monthly Cosmopolitan. Reading magazines kept her mind off the stale scent of the antibiotics and medicines that were sprawled across the counter. At least Shadow's soft musk aroma over powered the nauseating medical supplies a bit.

She noticed his smell a while ago, before he fell asleep. They were making small talk as she changed his bandages from that venomous bite. Poor guy kept on getting fevers on and off… and they weren't low fevers either. But every time she got close to help heal her dark friend; she would inhale his scent quietly. He didn't seem to notice, but he tends to blush when her warm hands made contact with his overly warm forehead. It always made him shiver uncontrollably, but Amy would just think it was from the fever.

She peeked out of the corner of her eye to the handsome, mysterious hedgehog.

_He looks so peaceful_, she thought with a smile.

Snore.

SNORE, SNORE, SNORE!

"Geez!" Rouge shook her head as she sat in the guest chair in Knuckles room. She was reading a Stephen King book but she kept on getting interrupted by Knuckle's constant snoring. "He's like a chainsaw!"

She attempted read again but Knuckle's sleeping music would get louder. Her sensitive bat ears rang numbly as the snoring (that seemed to be hooked up to a stereo) continued. She glared icily at the red echidna as she closed her book with a low growl. The growl tickled the bottom of her throat as her 

ears continue to sing in very, very high pitched tune. She raised her big, heavy book over his head and let go. All she heard was thump and a hitched final snore. Knuckles sat up immediately with confusion on why his head was in pain again. Luckily for Rouge, the book she was reading fell off the bed before he noticed. Knowing that she was the culprit for waking him up or not, she wanted his obnoxious sleep-song-trap to shut the hell up. As she turned away in her chair, she crossed her arms over her plump chest.

Everything was silent for a moment, all you could hear was the clock ticking innocently on the other side of the room. She could've sworn she was able to hear Knuckles blink.

"I was snoring, wasn't I?" he asked as he rubbed his head.

"Like a herd of drunken cows."

Tails shook his head to rid of his heavy tiredness that plague his entire mind and body. He's flying for too long, 12 hours straight to be exact. No break beside the occasional 'nature call'.

"Tails," Cream looked up at the young kitsune as she held a tray full of homemade brownies. "You should rest."

"I know, Cream… but I need to keep going." Tails responded with a yawn. His sleepiness was strong and powerful. His limbs felt sloppy and useless as he piloted the Tornado Suite. His eyelids were sore and aching to close themselves.

"I knew you would say that," Cream, for the first time, smirked knowingly. She held up her brownie tray that happened to hold a cup of java goodness as well. Cream was sleepy; it was long day and it was almost bedtime after all. But she rather stay awake to give her favorite fox company.

Tails smile appreciatively as he made a beeline toward the coffee that was probably loaded with cream and caramel. Tails couldn't help but notice Cream's new attire, namely her pajamas. They were cute, actually. She had a long, blue nightgown that matched her chao, Cheese (the little guy was sleeping), but covered it with a white robe that adorn mini cheesecake prints. Her slippers are what made him giggle… Cream the Rabbit was wearing soft brown bunny slippers… she was practically wearing her own species. Tails, being the sweetheart that he is, would never tease her of this but would forever be amused about the idea. Besides, the baby pink bows at the ends her ears made her too adorable to tease.

"Thanks, Cream! It's amazing!" Tails sighed contently after he took a generous gulp of his highly caffeinated beverage.

Cream's honey-brown eyes lit up with pure bliss as he continued to shovel down his drink in happiness. "Anytime, Tails! If you need another one, please let me know. I'm going to watch Cheese for a little bit. I'll leave the brownies here if you need them."

"K, get some rest, Cream… we have a long journey ahead of us." Tails smiled with a coffee mustache plastered above his upper lip. Cream giggled insanely as she skipped away.

"Night!"

"Oh, Carrie!" the crooked cop sang as he walked in.

Carrie stirred uncomfortably as she was awoken from her peaceful slumber. Her mind spun as she opened her eyes and caught some glimpses of her previous illusions. But she quickly discarded the images as she watched Tim approach her. She sat up warily and tried crawl away, but her attempts were futile when he gripped her ankles and dragged her beneath him.

"Where are you going?" he asked with fake innocence. His breath wreaked of cigarettes and whiskey. "We have reached our destination… don't you want to sit in your _special_ chair?"

Carrie winced as numerous memories washed through her mind. That _chair_… the one she was constantly nailed to, tied to, chained to while they tortured her. It was her personal, unwanted chair. She can still remember the smell and feel of it... it wreaked of old blood, her blood. The sour copper scent would always nauseate the pits of her stomach as she struggled against it. In the process of wiggling in the chair, her bare skin would get shanked by many splinters. Nasty splinters too; the stinging, unreachable ones.

Carrie didn't realize how numb her body was until she, Tim, Eggman and his crew exited his ship. Her head was so occupied with painful memories; she didn't notice herself being carried roughly over the cop's shoulder. She wanted to struggle, to fight back… but she felt too weak. Her limbs felt like heavy noodles while her skin became slightly irritated by the dewy breeze.

It was night, although she wasn't sure what time of night. No stars, just bland clouds that drizzled rain here and there. It was so dreary and dead… it was what she was feeling at that exact moment. The sprinkling mist ended as she was carried into the even colder warehouse.

_Ompf!_

Carrie looked like an old, washed out rag doll as Tim plopped her on the wretched chair. She was having a hard time keeping up with things due to her "hangover". It didn't seem to faze her when Eggman's robots pinned her down while Tim walked out of the room for a moment. She felt so exhausted; she had to let her head droop downward. She let her greasy hair hang and brush against her bare thighs… wait, she was still naked? Damn.

THWACK, CRUNCH!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Carrie wailed in horrifying pain.

That made her snap out of it….

She gritted her teeth as she felt her hands and feet get nailed, once again, to the chair and floor.

THWACK, CRUNCH!

THWACK, CRUNCH!

THWACK, THWACK, THWACK! CRUNCH! (That one was her casted arm.)

Carrie sobbed and panted as she felt more and more pain course through her limbs. She tried to control her breathing, her hectic heartbeat for she thought he was done. But she was proven wrong when she heard a tool, namely a power drill, get fired up. Her head snapped up as she felt the asshole place a screw upon her nailed hand. She turned her face away and gripped her eyelids shut.

This is going to hurt.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz!

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!!" Chris screamed as he gripped his scared hand. "What the FUCK!" He was so distracted from the pain that he didn't notice his friends pounding on his door.

"Chris?!" Amy's voice called frantically. "Are you OK?!"

"Chris!" Knuckles called as he burst through the door. After Knuckles came in, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge were following closely behind. "Chris?"

Chris whimpered as he was kneeling on the floor, rocking himself while gripping on his hand and holding it to his chest. Well, he was gripping it to the best of his ability… he can't quite function his other arm correctly due to his injury. Tears streamed down Chris's face and he saw a blurry Shadow kneel before him.

"What's wrong?" Shadow asked hoarsely. His crimson eyes were pooling with concern and worry for the young teen. Shadow tried to keep his focus on Chris, he was doing a good job at ignoring his feverish weakness.

"I-I-I," Chris tried to reply, but no avail. He quickly decided to abort the 'answering-questions' mission, and just held out his hand instead. His hand had a puncture wound in it… a very deep puncture that was obviously gushing lots of blood.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

"It's not mine…." Chris rasped out as he saw everything turn black.

There you go, hope it's a good update.

Again, sorry for the delay, kids!


	16. Chapter 15

(AN: I do not own Sonic or any of SEGA characters… I just own mine.)

(AN#2: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sonic Phantom… or Phantom Sonic… one of the two… and for all those supportive readers that have been waiting (and who actually like this story)! I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Everything has been hectic! There's family, full-time school, work, friends having babies, moving, more school and more of everything! GAH! Well, hope this will be worthy update for you all! Enjoy!)

Chapter 15: Losing It

"Quick! Give me more bandages!" Rouge commanded hastily as she put pressure on Chris's growing wounds. She was trying to so hard to slow the bleeding down but no luck. But Chris was lucky to be alive… barely. The tired bat was attempting to ignore her wrenching stomach that seemed to retaliate from all the scents surrounding her… blood, sanitizers, IVs, copper drenched bandages. She frowned deeply as more blood seeped through yet another rag. "What's taking so long! AMY!"

"Coming, coming!" Amy rushed over. The two frantic females exchanged positions while aiding the young boy. Her head spun nauseously as beads of sweat began to seep out through her pink fur. Amy put more pressure on Chris's forming puncture on his right thigh as she started to babble nervously. "I'm sorry! I tried to get here sooner but we're running out of bandages! I had to find more in the stock room! He's getting worse and I think we'll run out of supplies soon and I don't know what to do because it's not as if we can up and leave him for a grocery run!"

Chris, for the past hour, has been popping up injuries out of nowhere! It first started with his hand, but then more and more punctures came along. Most were mainly on his limbs. His torso seemed to be favoring bruises and minor cuts. You could see Chris's dry, almost crusty tears along his cold, pale cheeks. He kept his eyes clenched shut in hopes that the pain would stop.

"Never mind on the excuses, Amy," Rouge shook her head as she witnessed Chris's lower leg bruise before her eyes. "What the hell?" Her stomach again turned when she saw the leg crumble beneath the skin. Fragments of his bone began shatter and push out of his flesh.

"AHHHHH!!"

IMAGINELINEHERE IMAGINELINEHERE IMAGINELINEHERE IMAGINELINEHERE IMAGINELINEHERE

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" A voice shrieked from afar.

"What the?!" Sonic came to a dramatic halt. He was in the middle of some unknown woods. Even though it was the middle of the summer, the trees seemed to be dying as if it was late autumn. The leaves didn't have bright, vibrant oranges, greens and yellows; the colors were dull and dim. The dewy, foggy mist chilled his fur to his bones. He shivered slightly as a misty breeze brushed past his adrenalized body. "Was that…?"

He froze when he heard more screams followed by broken down sobs. The lost voice echoed through the eerie, moist branches of his surroundings. The air, for some reason, seemed cooler than a minute ago.

"Carrie…" he breathed worriedly. He wasted no time and followed the painful shrills of his new, close friend.

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"Now you can try to get away!" Tim gloated while he heaved his bloody shovel over his shoulder. "I would'a used a big, old hammer that they used on railroad tracks… but I thought I should be more creative because creativity is very crucial for an individual. Think about it, the world would be soooo dull if it wasn't for creativity. We would be all stiffs." The crooked cop rambled on as he put away his 'weapon'.

Carrie just sat in her chair and panted away her pain. She couldn't control her sobs and her trembling form at all… she felt numb and chaotic at the same time. She couldn't really move due to the fact that Tim got a little drill-happy. He decided to drill big, long screws into her biceps, thighs and shoulders. She was pretty much forced to sit up straight, minus her drooping head that seemed to pull on her strained muscles of her neck. Tim also decided to slam a shovel into her shins and break them so she wouldn't runaway. Blazing hot tears cascaded down her face as she felt blood pulse out of her body. Fresh, sticky blood covered her old, dry blood causing her stomach to twist in disgust.

Why would anyone do this? Why would anyone allow this? Speaking of which, she wasn't sure where Eggman and his clumsy drones ran off too. She just remembers their glares, which she didn't know if it was directed at her or not… and now they were gone. Sorrow coursed through her veins as more tears burned her cheeks. She sniffled as she gathered the courage, of what she had left, to look up at the man she loathed the most at the moment. Her ears and cheeks started to get inferno-hot just by looking at him.

"Why me?" her throat cracked and gargled from everything; tears, saliva, blood, screams. Although her voice was barely audible, Tim did hear her.

He turned around, with his shit-colored eyes glistening with joy. It was as if he was waiting for that question all day. "Well," he started as he strutted over to the angry, dazed teen. "You see-"

He was interrupted when his cell phone went off in his back pocket. It was shrilling, annoying sound… it wasn't a musical tune… it was a high-pitched ring that seemed to make Carrie grimace. He excused himself as if they were having an unimportant chit-chat. He answered his phone with a greeting, listened for a moment and then closed it abruptly. "Excuse me, dear… Eggman needs me in the ship. Now, don't move a muscle. I'll be right back!" With that, he left.

She didn't even bother to move… there was no way she could get out by herself. The position that she was in was dreadfully uncomfortable… not only she was hammered to the chair; she was cold, naked, and her feet were starting to feel as if they had a ton of needles poking into them. She put her head down in shame and quietly sobbed. "_If only I could do this on my own… why can't I figure a way out?"_

"_Because you happened to be drilled and nailed to a chair…."_ A voice inside her head retorted.

Carrie's eyes burst open and her head shot up. Her eyes glazed in shock when she saw her blue friend stand before her. In all honesty, she was expecting to see her little, imaginary self… but not this. Shit, she was happy to see anyone on her side at this point. At that second, she felt her chest lift with relief.

"Sonic?" Carrie choked out as she hoped she was not imagining things. She noticed that she wasn't the only one who was shocked… Sonic's was rather appalled at what was placed before him.

He could practically see her wounds becoming infected on her cement, pale skin. Her once rich, gorgeous green eyes were now dull and tired. Her bruises were blotched with spider veins and multiple shades of violets. Her broken legs caused his stomach to twist in anger and rage. Seeing fragments of her bones didn't help his nerves.

He clenched his fists as veins popped out along his temples. Carrie could hear his staggered breathing as he glared with fury. Carrie shrunk back as much as she could when she witnessed Sonic's brilliant fur darkened in a hazy swirl.

"What… what did they do to you?" Sonic growled huskily. "Tell me now what they did to you so I can…." He trailed off his revenge-drenched voice.

Carrie gulped down her saliva that was laced with some of her blood. The rusty copper weighed down her stomach nauseously as she attempted to gather up her courage to reply. She didn't want to admit it, but Sonic was scaring the hell of out her. Her younger self bubbled inside of her, telling her to say something. But she was too frightened. More tears streamed down her face as Sonic inhaled abruptly when he realized why she wasn't answering him.

Carrie eyes widened when Sonic evaporated back into his normal color. His rage left his pupils and it was replaced with hurt. She could smell his shame; he reeked of it right now. He tentatively reached his hand out to her face, his frown deepened when she flinched back. It also disturbed him that she was fully naked in front of him… don't get him wrong, she's a beautiful girl… but he didn't want to admire her like this, under these circumstances. _Wait, what?_ He felt more horrible and look the other way in attempt to clear his head. He closed his eyes tight as guilt overcame his being.

"Carrie," he rasped out. "I'm sorry."

His heart pounded wildly when she replied him with bitter silence. He sighed and was about to say something but Carrie beat him to it.

"Sonic," her whisper was wrapped in desperation. "Please… please get me out of here."

He looked up at her and realized he needed to save this guilt-trip for later. He shook his head and stared at her wounds, unsure of what to do without hurting her.

She sensed his confusion and came up with a quick solution. Her gut twisted into what she was about to get into… but there was no other way. "Sonic, just rip them out."

His head snapped up at her in shock as if she was nuts. He shook his head wildly but wasn't able to say anything about her request.

"I promise I won't scream… I know it's going to hurt, but I just want to get out of here. Please?" she sobbed quietly as she pleaded to her unsure friend. "Quick, before he comes back."

Sonic gulped as he again stared at her punctured limbs. He placed his slightly shaking hands on one her thighs and gripped the Philip's head screw. She winced at the sudden pressure change and that made Sonic more wheezy and hesitant.

Carrie noticed this and anxiously wanted Sonic to get this over with. "Sonic, just go…."

He looked at her and nodded in determination… a very wary determination. "Close your eyes, Carrie."

She nodded and did so. The next thing she knew, she felt Sonic yank every nail and screw out. She felt the intruding objects scrape the insides of her flesh as he tackled each obstacle one at a time. He tried to be quick about it, but there was the occasional stubborn nail. Her cast was the hardest part… the scraping sound of her bone, flesh and cast materials against the nail/screws made him want to 

cough up bile. But he kept strong and focused… it was hard for him to ignore her hushed, whimpering cries.

His fingers were sore after he was finished. He attempted to toss aside the fact that Carrie's blood was all over his gloved hands. The liquid seeped through the fabric and drenched his fur. He shook his head and began to solve his next problem. Her wounds and appearance… he couldn't up and leave with her looking like this… there was a possibility they may end up in public. He hastily tore his eyes of the girl and scanned the room. His eyes brightened when he saw a big blanket lazily tossed into a corner.

"I wonder why Eggman was asking me about scrambled eggs?" Tim's voice mumbled from afar. His footsteps tapped horrendously against the cold floors.

"Shit!" Sonic hissed. He zoomed to get the blankets and came back to snatch Carrie from her torturous chair. He didn't have time to prep her for the run, so he just went to it. He practically flew out the window where he came from and dashed as fast as he could.

"Scrambled eggs… hmmm, that's just-," Tim stopped when he walked into the empty room. He stared blankly at the chair that was supposed to be occupied. Anger boiled up in his veins and he gritted his teeth. "CARRIE!!"

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"CARRIE!!" the voice roared in a distance.

Carrie snuggled her head in the crook of Sonic's neck. She clung onto the hedgehog, hoping to feel both the freedom and the warmth. Carrie kept her eyes shut when she felt the prickly pressure from the cool air when the sound barrier broke. The blanket was somewhat covering her bare form as the wind brushed through her dirty hair.

"Hold on, Carrie," Sonic whispered more to himself than Carrie. She felt his beating, frantic heart pulse against her skull as he continued to run.

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"It stopped?" Knuckles asked quietly to the nurse-duo. Him, Rouge and Amy stood around the sleeping Thorndyke. Chris was dressed in many, many bandages. He legs were casted and was propped up. Chris was still pale, but was looking better. His sleeping facial expression showed that he was still in discomfort, but he was better.

"Yeah," Amy whispered back.

"Well," Rouge crossed her arms and exhaled a strenuous relief. "Let's not jinx it. We should leave and let him be."

"The monitors will let us know if something is wrong," Amy nodded in agreement.

In all honesty, the girls really wanted to wash up. The medical room's fumes were rather overpowering and sickening to their nostrils and stomachs.

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"C'mon, c'mon! Wash off!" Amy growled as she continued to scrub her hands in the public bathroom. She already took a shower but still felt like she needed to wash her hands. She felt as if her hands have been tainted and forever cursed with blood. Frustrated tears brimmed her aqua eyes as she sobbed with annoyance and began to beg. "Please…."

She pulled her paws from the running water and dried her hands to see if the stench was gone. She felt the patterns of the paper towels uncomfortably brush past her now pruned finger tips. After she was finished, she put her overly hydrated hands up to her nose. After one sniff, she wailed in anger.

"WHY DO I STILL SMELL LIKE IT?" Amy growled loudly as she drowned her palms with anti-bacterial soap.

"Smell like what?" a hoarse voice asked.

Amy jumped three feet in the air and spun around to see Shadow leaning in the doorway. His arms were crossed and he had unreadable expression on his face. But deep down, he was very concerned for the female hedgehog.

"Do you mind?" Amy turned around to hide her aggravated tears and went back to work. "I'm using the washroom."

"Last time I checked, it was a public rest room." Shadow retorted and walked up behind the pink hedgehog. "I just needed to clean my injury."

"Use your own bathroom," Amy grunted as she scrubbed away.

"I was going to. But I heard you yell when I passed by," Shadow then grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face her. He ignored her blushing, stunned face as he sniffed her fur along her ear.

Amy's stomach was erupting with butterflies and wasn't sure on what she should do. She just stood there astonished and slightly self-conscious as her personal space was invaded. "What are you doing?" Amy whispered aloud.

Shadow ignored her stepped away. "Well, I don't smell anything," he announced and looked down at her hands. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity on why Amy's hands were so raw.

"Well," Amy pouted in annoyance as she turned back around and continued to wash her hands. "Well, I do. I smell nothing but blood and medical supplies. It's making me sick."

"It's your head," Shadow softly said into her ear.

Amy froze and stared into the mirror and watched their reflection play before her. He was close, seductively close. He was looking into her eyes through the mirror… his crimson eyes were glimmering with… something exotic but yet full of sympathy.

"W-what? H-h-how do y-you know?" Amy cursed to herself for stuttering.

"When I killed," Shadow looked down and for some reason, he found her shoulder to be interesting. "I would smell my victims on me for days… weeks. Even though it wasn't truly there… I could smell the aftermath of everything I had done." He, all of a sudden, turned Amy back around and rested his hands softly on her hips. He looked into her eyes, almost burying himself in them. He felt his heart pound harder as she looked back at him in wonderment. No longer shocked or stunned, but was actually listening.

"Do you…" she breathed nervously at her oncoming question. "Do you still kill?"

"Only monsters," he half smiled. "So, relax. It's just your nerves." He reached to grab a paper towel without moving from his position and began to dry Amy's hands. His musky aroma was again consuming Amy… causing her to forget her worries.

After he was finished, he stood back and walked out.

"Thanks," Amy whispered out loud.

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"Did we find any more chaos emeralds?" Rouge asked as she walked into the command center with a towel wrapped around her damped head. She felt refreshed, renewed… and somewhat confident that things will get better. Her head waved slightly as she realized that she was starting to care for the Sonic Team. She shook her head when Tails began to talk.

"We found one," he droned out. "But Knuckles had to tackle a crocodile-snake-platypus THING." Tails had even darker circles under his eyes. His sparkling blue orbs were worn down and dull as his fur was ruffled from exhaustion.

"It was ugly," Knuckles voice perked dully as he walked in tiredly.

"Well, well, well," Rouge crossed her arms and smirked seductively at the echidna. "It's our brave warrior. I have to say, you look like shit and you should rest."

"I'm too tired to argue with you right now." Knuckles glared at the voluptuous bat.

"Exactly, this is why I'm going to force everyone to take a break. Including you, Tails."

"We have so much to do, Rouge… we can't stop now." Tails argued dully. But his eyes began to droop downward painfully. He shook his head to rid of his sleepiness.

"Listen, we need a pilot that will be alert and awake." Rouge growled at the kitsune's stubbornness. "We all had a long, exhausting day. Just put this thing into auto, and we'll call it a day. Besides, we should stay in one place incase Sonic tries to comeback with Carrie. It will be easier for him to find us that way."

"Rouge has been right lately, Tails," Knuckle grunted out. He ignored the Rouge's smug grin of cockiness and continued on. "Get some rest. We'll continue this in the morning."

"Fine," Tails rasped out and he pushed random buttons.

"Well," Rouge yawned and stretched out her tired arms and back. "I'm headin' to bed. I guess I'll see you later." She winked at the blushing echidna as she cat-walked out.

"What she mean by that, Knuckles?" Knuckles jumped and turned around to face a very confused Cream the Rabbit. She was still in her PJs while rubbing her tired eyes.

"Uh," Knuckles blushed even more as he scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, I'm not so sure myself."


End file.
